I attended “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” performance by the Aquila Theater Company at Stockton’s Performing Arts Center on October 2^nd, 2015. This performance brought three of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about Sherlock Holmes to life: “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”, “The Adventure of the Yellow Face”, and “A Scandal in Bohemia”.

The Aquila Theater Company made the production fun and enjoyable to watch. In order to keep the lengthy production interesting, they embellished the performance with jokes and other twists while remaining true to the source material. One interesting twist was that the iconic character of Sherlock Holmes was played by a woman dressed in men’s clothing. Even more interestingly, the other characters referred to Sherlock with feminine pronouns. She did a great job portraying Holmes’s eccentric and sociopathic personality. It was especially impressive when she played the violin just like Holmes did in the original stories.

The actors did a great job, especially since they were entertaining for around three hours. The only negative side of the production was that there were a lot of details that the audience had to pay attention to in order to understand what was going on. Consequently, it was hard to keep that kind of attention for such a long period of time. This could be the source of negative feedback, even though I thought they did their best to keep the audience’s attention with comedic relief.

Overall, I really enjoyed this performance. I had read “A Scandal in Bohemia” a long time ago and I think they did a great job bringing it to life. I thought their jokes were pretty funny, and that it was even funnier how they performed stories where Holmes was unable to solve the case. I would recommend this production if the company decides to come back to Stockton and perform it again.

            Health Science is one of Stockton’s newest majors, and the program is rapidly becoming one of the most popular among incoming students. Many would say this is due to Stockton’s strong graduate programs in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Communication Disorders, which previously had little connection with the undergraduate curriculum. In years past, in order to advance into one of these graduate programs, students would first have to major in areas such as Biology or Psychology. One of the benefits of the Health Science major is the early exposure to the healthcare system and the various professions that must work collaboratively in the “real world.” While many Health Science students are members of clubs specific to their career interests, such as the OT or PT Clubs, there are other students who have not yet determined which field they want to go into. Additionally, some students are looking to go into healthcare administration or management.

            The Health Science degree encompasses a wide range of students, all looking to go into different professions. What we really needed was a club open to any student looking to go into a health career- and that’s exactly what we now have! I am proud to call myself one of the founding members of the Health Science Club here at Stockton, and I am so optimistic about where this club will go. In just a few short weeks, we have elected our executive board, of which I am Vice President, and set goals for both the remainder of the semester and next year. Our founder, Nadine, has a wonderful vision for expanding the membership of our club and truly making a name for ourselves on campus. Before the year is over, we will participate in Relay for Life, a beach sweep, and the Special Olympics hosted at Stockton.

            We are extremely excited about the future of our club, and encourage anyone who may be interested to stop into one of our meetings! The Health Science club operates through committees that work collaboratively to accomplish tasks in areas such as community service, events, fundraising ect. While we are looking for every opportunity to become involved for the remainder of this semester, we are even more enthusiastic about the plans we have in store for next year. Keep an eye out- Stockton Health Science will be accomplishing great things!

On Wednesday September 16^th, in Wings B-I the Get Involved Fair took place. I was very excited for this event because I couldn’t wait to join clubs. I was overwhelmed by the amount of clubs that were represented there. The whole academic buildings were lined with tables and representatives of the clubs trying to get new students to join their club. As I walked through, I was interested in many clubs and ended up joining five. One thing I enjoyed was that there was a lot of freebies like candy, pens, and id holders! I was so excited because I never was in any club or organizations in high school because I played basketball and dedicated all my time to it. The Get Involved Fair was especially helpful to freshman because it helps them adjust to the college life and helps them know how to get involved on campus. The good things about the clubs are that there are ones that relate to almost every major and there are fun ones like S.E.T. and Stockton’s Disney Association. I joined the Occupational Therapy Club, Health Sciences Club, the Stockton Entertainment Team (S.E.T.), Stockton’s Disney Association, and Public Health Club. So far I have gone to all the meetings for each club except for Public Health Club, and I have enjoyed every one of them. I even helped out at the comedy show, which featured Carly Aquilino, on Friday October 9^th, for University Weekend. This event was run by S.E.T. which is a fun club and I would recommend anyone to join it. Overall I am glad that the Get Involved Fair was available to students because I wouldn’t know how to join the clubs if it wasn’t available.

            As a member of the Occupational Therapy Club here at Stockton, several volunteer opportunities have been presented to me within the field I wish to pursue. Aside from volunteering directly with patients, the club has offered a variety of volunteer opportunities for students to take advantage of. Recently, we held a “used medical equipment drive” where we collected used walkers, canes, wheelchairs and various other pieces of medical equipment to be donated to Good Will. The future occupational therapists are a very passionate group of students on campus, and the program was a huge success! During the first few meetings, I took more of a back-seat approach to my involvement with the club. Looking to play a more active role, my friend and I volunteered to bake and table for the OT Club bake sale.

            To our surprise, the “good-old-fashioned bake sale” just isn’t what it used to be. In an age where students no longer carry cash because we have cards to electronically swipe for meals, many people passed our table by. Similarly, people are much more conscientious about what they eat nowadays, as it seems like everyone is  watching their figure more than generations past. What started out as an exciting prospect for raising money for the Red Cross soon turned into frustrating disappointment. My St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes didn’t bring much luck, and the majority of our beautiful array of desserts were given away for free at the end of the day. In fact, many of our donations came from passersby who did not necessarily want a cupcake, but wanted to help our cause and donated anyway.

            When discussing the bake sale at our last meeting, the club seemed to be in agreement that we were all a bit disappointed with the results. Although the student body and faculty were generally supportive and encouraging of our efforts, we had a difficult time actually selling them on our baked goods. Perhaps the age of bake sales has come and gone, and a fruit and veggie table would be more lucrative in the future?

Stockton’s University Weekend was from October 9-11. On Friday it started off with Stockton Spirit Day, where students were encouraged to wear school colors or apparel. Spirit night included a stand up comedy performance by Carly Aquilino and a chance to get a free University Weekend t-shirt. The Stockton Entertainment Team (S.E.T) set up (no pun intended) the performance that all the students loved. Carly, who is a cast member of MTV’s Girl Code, gave an unforgettable performance filled with laugh-out-loud and embarrassing stories, snarky and relatable humor, and a question and answer session to let Stockton students learn more about her.

On Saturday, Stockton had a University Weekend Parade, which people could view in the K-Wing circle. Afterwards, students could enjoy their afternoon at the Carnival in Lot 5. The day ended with the 20th Annual Osprey Ball, held in Campus Center Event Room. All throughout the night, dressed in their best semi-formal attire, students danced to their favorite music, ate a variety of delicious food, and took pictures to remember the night at the photo booth. Sunday was dedicated to Lake Fred; throughout the day, students had the opportunity to go on nature tours, giving them a chance to learn about secret pathways and just plain enjoy the scenery.

All in all, University Weekend was a great way for students to bond with their old friends, make new ones, and display their pride of being a Stockton student.

I have always been involved in countless things. Being that I am striving to be a physical therapist one day, I decided I’d join the Health Science Club. When I went to the first meeting, I found out that this club is a brand new club, and that this is the first semester that they are even holding meetings. I am involved in a couple of clubs on campus, but none of them have been in the middle of their founding semester.

Being that this is a new club, there are a bunch of things that need to be done before you can officially call it a “club”. First, a budget needs to be created. There needs to be a budget created so that if you were to hold special events or bring in certain speakers, you would be able to have the funds from Stockton to be able to do so. Also, a structure needs to be set up within the club that will make sure that all of the jobs are being done within the club. From there, we need to work together to get our name out there amongst the student body. This semester, we need to do little fundraisers or hold relatively cheap events (because we do not yet have a budget) so that we can inform the general public that this is a club worth joining.

There are a great number of students at Stockton that are going to be working within the health field one day. This club is a great way to get those students involved.  I can foresee this club being very large one day, but for right now there is only about 15 people actively participating. We have to start somewhere, right?

Kalyn Newbold

Professor Lisa Rosner

GEN 1033-003

18 October 2015

University Weekend at Stockton

            It may be safe to say that University Weekend is one of the liveliest times here at Stockton University. For four days, you can see family members buzzing about to and fro with the students, seeing everything that has changed since their last visit, which may have been anywhere from a few days to a few years ago. This week is especially big for freshman because all of the events going on here (unless they came previously with older siblings) will be brand new to them. After so much time spent working hard in class, this provided a much-needed break. On the other hand, if you are like myself in this sense, you may use the time between (or even during) events to review completed work or develop a study plan for the future while the buildings are quiet for the most part.

One of the events that stood out for me was the skit by “Girl Code’s” Carly Aquilino, which took place on Friday October 9^th at the Sports Center (aka “Big Blue”). She joked about many subjects (dating/drinking/embarrassing moments) that students may avoid even mentioning to friends because of the level of taboo associated with these things. She, however, seemed at least somewhat comfortable sharing her experiences with us and letting us get a good rise out of it. I do not believe that we laughed out of a “sucks to be you” sentiment, but because these subjects were relatable to us. We’ve all been oblivious to potentially embarrassing moments; we all have friends that unnerve us sometimes; we have all most likely had bad experiences on dates. Out of everything that Carly talked about, though, I must admit that it was a fart joke that got one of the biggest rises out of the audience, proving that even a mature comedian can inspire some immature humor. I truly wish I could see her return to Stockton in the near future.

The next day, Saturday October 10^th, marked the official day for families to visit and have breakfast with the students and get tours of the campus and dorms. On my way back to my dorm from breakfast, I saw a bunch of golf carts crossing ahead of me, which could only mean that the annual parade was in session and I was running late. Thankfully, I managed to sprint ahead and catch a glimpse of each of the carts as they cruised by. Many of the school’s clubs, sports teams and organizations had decorated golf carts and banners to celebrate the official kickoff of University Weekend. It was such a joy to see so many smiling faces and to hear the participants singing and cheering on their way through.

That night marked what one may call the “homecoming dance” and what we here at Stockton call the “Osprey Ball”. The turnout seemed good as far as I could tell. The DJ remixed songs in such a way that that the music seemed everlasting; the dance floor was constantly filled with lively students dancing to some extent, from a simple sway to the beat to a full-on break dance. And in case you were wondering, yes, there were line dances every now and again to break the blocks of selective genres. I found this to be highly amusing: the longest running song of the night was a mashup LMFAO’s hardcore party song “Shots” and Aretha Franklin’s classic “Respect”. In addition to dancing, there was abundant food and a photo booth with plenty of fun props.

That’s all I have to report for this year, but I assure you that there was plenty else to see and do; I just couldn’t do everything. The next time that University Weekend rolls around, I’m certainly going to immerse myself more deeply in the events. I look forward to seeing everyone out there as well. I highly recommend that you also make your way out there when you can.

Every day when the temperature is higher than 65 degrees reminds me of why I love the spring. And in my opinion, Stockton College in the spring is ten times better than the spring at home. Everyone walks around campus with smiles on their faces as their seasonal depression ends.Students are fully garbed in flip flops, shorts and sunglasses. As you enter the residential life areas, there are people everywhere; people playing Frisbee, basketball, volleyball, sunbathing, doing homework, and taking in every single ray that the sun is beaming.

In this gorgeous weather, some of the professors hold class outside. I have not experienced this personally, however my Plant Ecology lab in my Biodiversity and Evolution required that we go outside on one of the most gorgeous days of the semester. It was more than enjoyable, even though we were doing work. I can’t wait for the rest of the semester to be flip flop weather. This weather makes the atmosphere at Stockton a million times better because everyone is happy and smiling. And the beach is only 15 minutes away!

Last week was the Meet the Greeks event. The event included many Greek organizations and their tables to advertise themselves. A majority of the Greeks were all dressed very professionally and were lobbying their organization to the new underclass men. Before I attended the event I had a personal checklist of fraternities I was already looking into. This event allowed me to meet all the brothers from each fraternity and gain an understanding of everyone’s lifestyle.

The Meet the Greeks event was helpful with kick starting the year on a social level. Almost all the Fraternities had flyers including information about events with the brothers all week long. Some of these events include Wing Wednesday’s, Spike Out Cancer and Board Game Night. This was not only a great way to meet upperclassmen involved in Greek life, but also a great way to find other students who are trying to become more involved in Greek Life. Without this helpful event I would have had a completely different schedule and I wouldn’t have met any members. This event helped get me more social and involved in extracurricular activities.

Although entering the stage of Greek life is not allowed until second semester, I was still interested and wanted to look at some prospects. Some specific statistics I wanted to see were simple such as grade point average and completed community service hours. The most important thing to me, however, is networking. Being able to meet and become close with other successful members of a fraternity can be a huge advantage after college. Finding out the networking behind an organization can be difficult, but with the knowledge of grade point average and service hours, I was able to make predictions about networking.Overall, Meet the Greeks was a helpful event that should be hosted every year for people like me.

There are a variety of programs offered through the ARC of Atlantic County, and I had the opportunity to volunteer for two of them this past weekend. On Saturdays, the ARC holds a six-hour Children’s Respite program, where parents can drop off their child with assurance that he or she in being supervised and engaged while they go grocery shopping or accomplish other tasks. I had been warned that this program would be very different from the relaxed environment of the Friday Night Teen program I had previously visited, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how different of an experience it would be.

The Friday Night Teen program consisted of a group of six teenagers with disabilities, two staff members and two volunteers. The energy of the small group was enjoyable, and I had the opportunity to get to know each of the teens on a more personal level. The Saturday Children’s Respite program, however, was a much different story. There were closer to twenty children and teens participating in the program, and each was assigned to a specific staff member. With over triple the amount of people in the room, the energy was far from laid back. I quickly learned that it took a keen eye and a lot of patience to properly supervise this group and provide them with the entertainment and engagement necessary to captivate their attention.

The structure of the program kept me on my feet and kept the pace of the day moving quickly. Scheduled activities included an opening and closing circle, painting, collage making, coloring, cooking and even a nature walk. One of the things that surprised me most about my experience was the varying ability level of the children and teens that attended the program. While some were capable of engaging in in-depth conversation about their personal lives, others couldn’t speak at all. The experience opened my eyes to the wide range of patients I could potentially work with one day as an occupational therapist. Initially, I was apprehensive about volunteering because a part of me was worried I would hate it and would come to doubt my career choice. Thankfully, I was pleased to realize after leaving the ARC on Saturday that I was even more enthused about the prospect of working with individuals with disabilities one day than I previously thought. I will definitely be returning to the ARC in the following weeks to spend more time with the wonderful people I met and the several new friendships I have formed.