Tuesday nights on campus are usually nights that you wouldn’t think are active. However, with so many clubs active at Stockton, the activity can be any night of the week. I particularly enjoy Tuesday evenings because of one club that I have become involved with. Classrooms turn into meeting grounds for people with the same interests. Nothing could make a freshman feel more accepted than being surrounded true equals.

Stockton is home to countless clubs and organizations run by students. The club that peaks my interest is the Animal Friendly Organization, or AFO. This club is just what it seems it would be, a club that is aware of animal endangerment and conservations. I came across this club during the Get Involved Fair in September. In my high school, there were the generic clubs like Bio Club and Theater Club, so the sheer volume of different clubs present at Stockton made my jaw drop. I could finally pick a club for myself that would make me happy to participate, rather than just for the extracurricular credit like in high school. I found real enjoyment in AFO because I have a passion for animal life. I have been fascinated by them since I was in the third grade, and in high school there was nothing offered to me that would give me any kind of involvement with animals. The AFO, however, is very highly focused on involvement and participation.

Club meetings are held every Tuesday night at 5:30 PM in B-0003 and there are discussions about volunteer trips to local shelters and animal rescue facilities, fund raisers, and other kind of possible activities for the club itself like a field trip to an aquarium. In early November, the AFO hosted its first bake sale of the year, and raised $119 to be donated to a local horse rescue facility. The AFO, in my life at Stockton, has not only been a place to get involved in my own interests, but also a place to find service projects for my requirement as an honors student that actually made me feel good.

I feel AFO is a club that has involved meetings and every one that you attend makes you more passionate about the cause than you were before. I strongly recommend it to all of my friends that I know care about animals like I do.

On Saturday, September 7th, a caravan of buses and vans packed full of Stockton students and their supervisors set forth towards Atlantic City. This makeshift crew of volunteers had a plethora of tasks: painting, planting, cleaning, and the like; but they all shared one goal. Helping out those in need. A call was sent out for those ready to commit their time and effort, and that call was answered with gusto. From the opening ceremony to the return home, everyone involved met their assignments with bright eyes and wide smiles.

My group’s assignment was to help paint the top floor of the Atlantic City Police Athletic League’s building. Nothing bad ever came from good ol’ manual labor. What really amazed me was not my companions’ volunteering, or even their work ethic, but the fact that they did not acknowledge what they were doing as a big deal. It was not a task or a service, but just something that people do. Such familiarity being displayed towards community service was heart warming, and raises the hope that some day it will be the norm for society.

I implore and encourage everyone to partake in all future service day events. Not only do they provide help to those who need it most, but they are an excellent opportunity to get out and make a change while meeting new and interesting people. The next event is the ‘Make a Difference Day’ on Saturday, October 26th. It will most certainly be a wonderful experience, and one that should not be missed. Just remember, it is not about recognition, it is about the people in need.

Stockton University has a very diverse group of clubs. There are religious clubs, club sports, major related clubs, and clubs you join just to have fun. Stockton Gaming club is one of the clubs you join to have a good time with people looking to do the same thing. The meetings are every Wednesday night and they start around 7 or 7:30 in the upper level of the Campus Center Coffee House. The longer you attend the meetings, the more you start to realize that the club meetings never really “end.” Everyone there is friends, so the meetings just end when everyone decides it’s time to go back to their dorms or go home. The environment reflects this friendly attitude as well. There are so many games going on at one time, it’s hard NOT to feel included! There are board games, card games, video games and PC games all sprawled out across the area. Even if there isn’t currently a game going on that you want to be a part of, the Gaming Club provides a rolling cart stacked with a multitude of board games that you can grab and start playing with your friends at any point during the night!

Not only is the club a really fun way to break up your week, but the people you meet there are really nice and helpful. If you need help connecting a controller to a console, or are playing the game for the first time, the people around you will always help and be friendly. Stockton Gaming Club has become a place where I go with my friends, but still look forward to making new ones every Wednesday that I go. It’s a place I know that I can go to and not feel self-conscious if I want to talk about a game I like, a TV show, some characters from a game or show, or anything really that might make me feel uncomfortable in other places. The environment that’s created and the surrounding people are wonderful and what truly makes this club stand out from the rest.

This club has become one of the highlights to my weekly routine, and I look forward to seeing the same people every Wednesday night. Yeah, the club has goals like all of the other clubs on campus, but in what other club can you  achieve your goals by hanging out with your friends, sitting around in a big group cheering on one of the players or playing yourself, making new friends with the same kind of interest that you have, and playing one of your favorite games?

On September 7, 2013, I attended the Stockton Day of Service. When I first heard about it I was a little skeptical and thought to myself, “I’m sure it would be a nice thing to do but it probably is not for me.” Then, as it got closer to September 7th, I realized I should probably sign up and attend even if it is only because all of my friends are doing it. The day I signed up was the last time I had even any hesitation about the Day of Service.

When I first arrived in the Campus Center Event Room on the Day of Service, it all seemed a little hectic and all I wanted to do was find a service project that would interest me for the day. Although it was not my first choice (not to mention I had never heard of it before), I chose a group that would go to the Stanley S. Holmes Community Center in a less developed neighborhood in Atlantic City. Our task for the day was to play games with and hang out with children and teenagers and hopefully get them excited about going back to school. We started the day by decorating the community center with all kinds of back to school decorations and setting up a pizza station and an ice cream sundae bar. Even though we were minutes away from actually starting our service project, I still had no idea what I was supposed to say to these kids to get them excited about school. Then, I met a little girl named Maria. From then on, the whole day changed.

Maria has a hard time in school and in life. She hates school because she is always bullied and she really does not have many friends. Her parents are getting divorced so she harms herself to deal with the emotional stress of it all. Hearing her story and talking to her made me realize how much I have to be thankful for in my life. Also, just spending time with other people in the neighborhood made me see the sense of community everyone there has, even though they are under privileged. I always considered myself a grateful person but once I saw the struggles that Maria and even her neighbors go through every day, I was suddenly made much more aware of the privileges I have every day.

I started out the day skeptical at best about what I would be doing. Even while decorating the center I still was not quite sure about how I would be able to make a difference in how the children viewed going to school. By the end of the day, I realized that it was not so much about helping them as it was about feeling good about myself and the work I had done, however minimal it was. The Stockton Day of Service made me see how lucky I truly am and made me that much more excited to continue doing service projects around school and the community.

On September 16th, and 17th Stockton held their club fair in the academic wing. This was an opportunity for people to become more aware of what Stockton has to offer. The University has diverse opportunities for students to get involved in whatever interests them. The clubs range from fraternity and sorority to the gaming club. The clubs that I went to were Chemistry Society, Physics Society, Admission Ambassador, and the community garden.
Going into the fair being a science major, I knew I was going to sign up for the science societies. Around every month they have a meeting where the club plays around with equipment and has study sessions. What I didn’t expect was that the Admission Ambassadors pulling me over. Ambassadors works with possible incoming freshman by helping them get to know what Stockton has to offer. The table of people were very welcoming and kind. They are trying to get more people involved with the position, especially men because the last graduating Ambassador class had a lot of men. Even though it takes some time to get trained to become an Ambassador, the role can be extremely rewarding, often Ambassadors receive internships and connections when they are working. It is important to find a persons individual voice, this can lead to leadership roles, which is good to put on transcripts. Another perk of joining is that eventually Ambassadors can get paid for helping people out.
The community garden is what a person might expect, growing fruits and vegetables for the school. The club might sound boring to some but I believe it is important for humans every so often to connect to our roots with nature. It is easy to get caught up with the hustle of school and constantly being surrounded by technology. It has been too often that we don’t stop to admire the simple things in life. Nature is so elegant in that it has a very simple look but can be so beautiful and intricate at the same time.
The Get Involved Fair showed me that there is something to offer for anyone. I am looking forward to applying for an Ambassador positon and a start to the different clubs that I signed up for.

On Thursday, April 25, 2013 Stockton hosted a great event called the Celebration of Service. I wanted to go to the event because while I work in Grants, Service Learning is in the same office and I know how hard they work to plan events and projects. At first I wasn’t sure what to expect from the event, whether it would be powerpoint presentations or posters and booths, but it sounded interesting!

When I arrived at the the event, I was a little taken aback to see how few people chose to present. I suppose I missed a few people due to class schedules, but I certainly expected there to be more people volunteering to present their projects. Even though there were so few people attending, I was still able to enjoy the event in the brief time I was there.

Many of the tables had pamphlets to take home in addition to their actual boards so i was happy to have additional information for future references! The presentation boards ranged from very colorful and flashy to more subtle and simple. One of my favorite tables help the Peace Corps, which is something I’ve been interested in for some time now. Although there weren’t many tables and presentations, I think the event still went really well.

Just like presenting research on the Day of Scholarship, I think it’s really great that people who are passionate of their service projects want to spread their enthusiasm and work! I plan on attending the celebration of service again next year and I might even have something to present in year to come!

On the evening of September 17th, Stockton hosted a course for Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS). This course’s purpose is to try to prevent over intoxication, underage drinking, and driving drunk. I took this course to make myself more prepared for college drinking and to add TIPS certification to my résumé.
I learned how to properly identify a person who might be in a potentially dangerous situation (involving alcohol), and how to effectively use my people skills to get them to stop drinking. A lot of the class was self explanatory; for example, what is an indicator when a person is heavily intoxicated. But a proportion of the class made me re-evaluate the way I judge and deal with a potentially dangerous situation. One potentially dangerous scenario can be a couple of friends drinking Jell-O-shots in a short sitting when one friend has never drunk before. Another valuable tool to get a person to stop drinking is to distract the person with something they are interested in and slyfully take away their drink so the person can’t get even drunker.
I feel that I learned valuable information that can and will be applied in my lifetime. I am better prepared for scenarios when I am confronted with alcohol and will know when everyone is drinking safely. More people should take this course, for it will be practical information and will make students aware of unsafe/safe drinking conditions. Being certified in this course will save lives of people that have drunk to much.

The start of the spring semester brought a lot of opportunities – new classes and friends, but also a new schedule waiting to be filled up with more activities! Because I don’t live on campus, it is more difficult for me as a commuter to be involved in a lot of activities. However, Stockton is has ways to accomadate students like myself and many others, one way to hear about new clubs and events is the Get Involved Fair.

I wasn’t able to to attend the Get Involved Fair for the fall semester, so i wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to find something interesting to join. I was surprised at how many booths there were, and even more surprised by how many clubs and activities are offered at Stockton. I was able to get more information on clubs like books without borders, MSA, Model UN, cooking club and more. It was really helpful to have so many clubs all laid out in one place!

On September 12, 2015 Stockton University held The Day of Service on campus. This was an event that acclimated the students to community services the school had to offer. One of Stockton’s main goals is to keep us (the students) involved in modern challenges and issues. Stockton had many stations to cycle throughout the day such as Civics, Hunger & Homelessness, along with others. Going to all of the events really showed what community service is really about. Progress in the community should not depend on primarily other people making a change, but should rely on the individual’s participation. As the key speaker Todd Bernstein said, “[The] government won’t help change the nation; it is up to us to make a difference”.
One of the stations that resonated with me was the Water Watch Club. As a child I thought that recycling was important, but it was perfectly OK for me to drink as many plastic water bottles as I wanted. The Water Watch made it clear that we have to reduce the amount of water bottles we use. Water Watch showed us that we (humans) are unintentionally making an island of pure trash because trash is thrown out into the sea and collects in spots. They also touched upon how much energy we are wasting for something that we do not need. It takes 50% of the energy they use to make the bottle and then 45% to transport it to local stores. Everyone nowadays talks about conserving gas and how global warming is a concerning issue. It would make sense that something so simple (switching to reusable water bottles) can help these problems. Tap water is checked more frequently for harmful bacteria then the bottled water companies, and the plastic bottles can contain BPA (that can cause cancer and other heath hazards). It is also much cheaper to use reusable bottles of water that costs pennies to fill up compared to buying a pack of water bottles. It doesn’t make cense to spend more money and waste more energy for something that is potentially more harmful for us.
Another station that surprised me was Join Together Atlantic County (JTAC). Its goal was to spread awareness of drug and alcohol use along with rehab. I knew that the state of New Jersey is generally a safe state, but I didn’t know that the biggest drug was heroin. As most people know, heroin is a very heard drug and would wonder why so many people would be using it. New Jersey has the cheapest and pure heroin in the country, making easy for people to get ahold of it. Trafficking the drug is very easy to do because of our location as a state. The scary fact about this drug is that the deaths of overdosing have tripled since 2010 and happen three times more often then homicides, suicides, and car accident deaths in the State. We all know how many accidents we see on TV but never really hear about people overdosing from this drug.
The Day of Service was really eye opening to me. It made me want to get involved and give back to my community. I am really excited to get involved and make a difference.

Service is always a great way to learn humility, not matter how short or long of a time you put into it. When you’re doing a good deed, I believe it’s best not to look into how much time you put into something, or how many benefits you’ll recieve from doing something. It’s best to enjoy the experience of helping people who need you, and I think it’s ever more clear when you see the relief and gratitude on someone’s face.

When the semester began, I knew I wanted to help out at the bloog drive again. Partly, I’ll admit I wanted to get one of the required service projects out of the way, but another part was excited to help in any way i could. I worked with the Red Cross three times before, all for blood drives, and I was looking forward to being in use for something I knew.

In high school, I helped out the nurses by aiding those who had given blood. I would talk to them and distract them, especially if they were squeamish yet adamant to help in any way they could. This time however, my job wasn’t nearly as hands-on; instead I was put on the duty of giving donors snacks and drinks as they recovered. It wasn’t the most exciting job, and definitely not the most important, but it was rewarding in it’s own way. If a donor wanted to talk, they did, and if they didn’t want to talk, that was fine too – our jobs were to make sure they were stable enough to leave when they felt ready.

Although I was only able to help out for an hour, it set the tone of my involvement this semester. I ended up not even using the blood drive as one of my required service projects! I instead started volunteering every sunday at the Mosque in Atlantic City, and helped out at the Day of Scholarship for a few hours. However, being able to help in any way that I could was a great lesson and experience!