While I loved attending the “Get Involved” fair in the fall, I was really looking forward to the Spring fair to see if I had missed any organizations that I could be a part of. A lot of the clubs I noticed this time were culturally-oriented, which didn’t really open up any new clubs to me; however, I did see the tables for the organizations that I worked with in the Fall semester which encouraged me to reach out and continue my efforts on the Argo staff and Stockton’s student-run organic farm.

Regardless of how many classes you’re taking or how many challenges you plan to overcome this semester, there’s no harm in signing up for the email lists for Stockton’s clubs during the “Get Involved” fair because the influx of updates on your Stockton email help you stay connected to the club’s activities that are usually open to the whole community. Meaning even if you didn’t become an active member like you anticipated, you can still know about upcoming events that are about your topic of interest and that are still available to you!

Tabling for the blood drive was my second service fulfillment. I decided to table because I don’t fit the physical requirement to donate blood. Many people –most commonly females– under the necessary height and weight requirement cannot donate blood to the organization; however, I viewed this as a challenge to find other ways that I could get involved with helping the organization. Monetary donations are always a little hard to produce on the broke college lifestyle so volunteering my time to the tabling process and encouraging those who are eligible to donate seemed to be a perfect fit for me.

When someone donates blood, they are essentially donating life. Just a single blood donation has the power to save someone, or even several people. One person’s blood can be separated into components of red cells, platelets and plasma, all of which, have individual uses. Patients with specific conditions sometimes only need certain components of the cells and are saved daily by the donations of everyone throughout the world who gives. The Red Cross supplies 40% of the nation’s blood supply and I’m proud to know that fellow Stockton students are a part of that amazing percentage!

At the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, me and fellow Honors students attended to join the day’s events and contribute to our community. Because I attended the Day of Service in the Fall, I was excited to see what activities would be at the Spring’s Day of Service. Among the many organizations, each with their own service-based projects, my friends and I decided to partake in the projects organized by Circle K because we heard about the activities they had scheduled for the day.

There were two different sewing projects going on, each heading to their own destination. Heart surgery is very trying process that leaves the patient emotionally and physically drained. One of the projects was to make pillows for those recovering with fabric and stuffing. We loved making something that we knew would facilitate the recovery for someone suffering.

The second project was another sewing activity; however, this time, the recipients were newborn babies! These small baby toys were for newborns to facilitate the parent-baby bonding process were the two we took part in. As I was sewing the details onto the baby’s toy, I realized that I was becoming part of another life. When the baby’s box of earliest things are gathered together, encased with love and sentiment, their first toy would be one that I made. Forming a connection with a family I would otherwise have no relation to, I sewed as many baby toys as I could and will hopefully be making more in my own time that I can donate!

On Wednesday November 18^th the Marine Science program hosted its second seminar of the semester. David Golden from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife gave a presentation of the potentially beneficial reuse of dredged materials. Golden compared traditional dredging which leads to a net loss of sediment to a new dredge process which could add ecological and economic benefits by restoring marshes. Eroding marshes deposit sediments in channels, which then need to be dredged. Traditionally, the dredge material would be put in an area secluded from the marsh and the marsh restoration would not be addressed. The new process would combine the restorative needs of the marsh and the dredging needs.

Two sites have already experienced the new marsh restoration processes Golden described. Stone Harbor did not react well to thin layer deposition because it was mostly sand at this site, but dredged sand was able to accumulate and make a habitat for the birds who nest there. The second project was more successful with thin layer deposition. The site was in Avalon, and contained mostly fine materials like silt and clay. Another project is in the works at Fortescue. This project will have various types of restoration happening, all requiring a specific type of dredge to be used. Marsh restoration, dune restoration, and beach replenishment will all be attempted at Fortescue.

The seminar was extremely informative to attend. Presentations like this are very helpful to students because it gives students opportunities to learn of various projects going on related to their majors.

On the evening of Wednesday, September 3, 2014, I attended the women’s soccer game against Salisbury University. Being a freshman and a former soccer player, I found this event very enjoyable and a great way to end my first day of classes. Attending a sporting event at Stockton is a great way to feel a sense of community with the rest of the people on campus. Whether you are there with a group of old friends or just meeting someone for the first time, you are all there for the same purpose: to cheer on the Stockton Ospreys!

This women’s soccer game was a great way for freshman to meet and make connections outside of the Welcome week setting. I planned to see the game with a few friends, but I also met a number of other awesome people. It was great to witness how a group of complete strangers could connect over a soccer game just moments after meeting one another. Shortly after introducing ourselves, we were already working together to shout support for our girls on the field.

Unfortunately, our cheering did not do the trick and they lost with a score of 3-0. Although the women’s soccer team did not get the win that day, I would say the fans in the stands did by coming together and sending all sorts of encouragement out to the players. Being a supporter at an event like this one was a great experience. I plan on attending many more athletic events on campus, as they are a great way to show off my Stockton pride!

Dana Fellerman

GEN 1033, Honors: Life of the Mind

Dr. McGovern

9.18.2014

On Thursday September 18^th, 2014 the American Red Cross was hosting a two day blood drive at Big Blue on the Stockton campus. I had registered to be a blood donor during Welcome Week when the Red Cross had a table set up looking for potential volunteers. Before coming to Stockton I have donated blood quite a few times during my high school career to the Blood Center of New Jersey and I was overjoyed knowing I can still help donate as the American Red Cross does blood drives in the fall and spring semesters in two day intervals. Waking up this morning I proceeded to follow the basic steps prior to donating blood which included drinking plenty of water, eating a good breakfast and having a snack before donation times to reduce the likeliness of becoming ill or dizzy.

My appointment was at noon, so I proceeded to head over a few minutes early to get my check in done before waiting to have a check up to make sure I was qualified to be a donor today. When I was all ready to donate, the medical instructors were very nice and helped me get settled in before proceeding to stick the needle into my arm to donate blood. As the procedure went on, I had very nice conversations with instructors and a donor laying across from me on another bed. When I was finished I sat down with the other donors and volunteers to have snacks to replenish our blood sugars while we chatted with each other before departing to live our college campus lives or go to class.

I love to volunteer in blood drives; being part of a blood drive is one of the best experiences a person can attend to because you are donating to help save a life and give blood to someone who really needs it in the hospital. The medical instructors are here to ensure everyone who is donating has blood that is safe for donating as infected blood can contaminate other blood bags quickly and go through the donation process with the donors. Blood drives are just one of many volunteering opportunities here at Stockton on and off campus but it is one of the most important communities to help support and I will give my full support to individuals or communities in need.

I recently volunteered at the American Red Cross Blood Drive for the fall semester, which took place on September 17-18, 2014 from 10-3 pm in Big Blue. I signed up ahead of time to volunteer on the 18^th from 2-3 pm. Two other volunteers and I arrived punctually at 2 and were told to relieve the volunteers from the previous time slot at the recovery table.

At first, all we were told to do was make sure those who donated blood sat for at least 10 minutes after donating, drank some water, and ate some food. This seemed like a simple enough job, so as people started coming over to the recovery table, I made sure to ask them to sit and have something to drink and eat.

The part that caught me off guard was the fainting. The volunteers we replaced left before they could pass on the warning that, “yes, people tend to faint after donating and you should probably watch out for that.” Sitting at the table, one of the donors fainted and slid right off his chair onto the floor – this definitely flustered me. Quickly, a Red Cross member came over and handled the situation, helping the man over to a bed to lie down.

Once that happened, someone from the Red Cross kindly explained to us what signs to look for when the donors come over to the table: the color of their faces, the color of their lips, beads of sweat on the forehead. From then on, we made it clear to the donors that they should let us know how they are feeling and if they start to feel faint or nauseous. Ironically, after we learned what to look for, no one else fainted.

As 2:45 came around, the registration desk stopped accepting donors. Volunteering during the last time slot, I knew no one was coming to replace us and that there were going to be more people needing recovery after 3. The other volunteers and I chose to stay until all of the donors finished donating, even though that required staying almost another hour after our time slot ended. We all agreed that it was the right thing to do, since no one from the Red Cross could watch the recovery table while working.

The decision to stay and volunteer longer, to me, embodied service-learning extremely well. I learn about the process of giving blood medically, but that was only half of the story. I also gave a special amount of meaning to my service because the other volunteers and I went above and beyond to serve others, not because we had to, but because we wanted to.

On Saturday September 6, 2014, I attended Stockton’s semi-annual Day of Service. Day of Service is an event where several organizations meet and perform service activities on campus and at nearby locations. We arrived at the campus center at 8 a.m. where we were greeted with a free t-shirt and breakfast. We then moved to the event center to choose which organization we would be donating our time and effort to. There were so many organizations and clubs present- there was truly something that everyone would be interested in.

I chose to volunteer my time to Books without Borders, a Stockton club that collects books and sends them to people who would not otherwise have access to them, such as children in third world countries. We went out to their on-campus trailer, which was packed with boxes filled with books of all genres. Our job was to unload the trailer, organize the books by genre, and finally repackage them to send them to a country that needs them.

Overall, this experience was truly eye opening in that I never really stepped back to look at how fortunate we really are. It is amazing that we take for granted something that seems so simple and trivial as books. Books are something we have always had easy access to and do not think much of how fortunate we are to have them. They are something that we are so used to having that we don’t realize that other countries do not have the same opportunity to access them. Thanks to programs such as Books without Borders, we can help to spread knowledge and send books to children in these less fortunate countries. This enriches their learning experience and allows them to experience things they otherwise would never have the opportunity to.

Becky Paulikens

           On the night of September 16, hundreds of Stockton students gathered in the campus center to try to get a free fish. Arriving fifteen minutes early to the event was still too late; the line was already snaking around the room. Lucky for my roommate and me, we weren’t too far back in the line. After waiting for half an hour, the line still didn’t move. People began to feel anxious because they didn’t know if they were even going to get a fish (there were only 100 fish to give away). In order to remedy the situation, event leaders handed out empty fish tanks. If you received an empty tank, you were certainly receiving a fish. This allowed people to know if waiting in line was worth it. After another half hour passed, my roommate and I finally arrived at the front of the line. Our first task: place a green, plastic tree in the tank. Once secured, we filled up the bottom of the tank with multi-colored pebbles: blue, orange, green, and pink. Once settled, we moved onto the next station: decorating with tiny shells, the final touch.  After the base of our tank was to our liking, we were able to scoop out our own fish from a massive tank filled with so many goldfish. The gentleman handed the filled tank to a woman, who then placed the lid on the tank and told us how to care for our brand new house pet!

            Throughout this process, I began to take note of the atmosphere in the room. The event coordinators did a fantastic job at setting the mood for the event. The refreshments were all fish themed. There were plastic cups with goldfish crackers, blue Jello to represent water, gummy fish candy, and fried fish sticks. The location of the event had signs that displayed fish décor, with a variety of different colors. Personally, I felt the group hosted a successful event, and I thought it was such a pleasure to attend!

Dana Fellerman

GEN 1033, Honors: Life of the Mind

Dr. McGovern

9.18.2014

On Saturday September 6^th, 2014 I volunteered for Stockton’s semi-annual event called Day of Service where people sign up to do community work alongside several different groups and organizations either on campus or off campus. When arriving at the campus center to begin the day minutes before the event room was open, I signed in happily at the sign in table then went down the stairs to have a small breakfast which the staff provided before I received and changed into an official Day of Service shirt. I was ecstatic to see how many people were here that were willing to do volunteer work to help out a community.

When the doors opened, there were many choices to choose from and even more people massing into the room. Ultimately I decided to join the WaterWatch program with the Campus cleanup program they were offering today alongside a few of my campus friends that I have met during my SOAR experience as well as Welcome Week. WaterWatch is one of the many environment-friendly programs here at Stockton that aims to keep the Stockton campus and surrounding area green and clean. We were instructed to break up into groups of 10 and received gloves, trash bags, a trash pick-up device and told our assignments. My friends and I were assigned to clean the West Quad area and the areas surrounding the Campus Center. As we proceeded to the West Quad the group split off into two smaller groups to cover ground faster and more efficiently than one giant mass.

As we walked around the areas on campus, there were the occasional typical pieces of trash such as wrappers and bits of string or glass which were handled with care. The fact that Stockton has such a green campus is really amazing as it makes clean ups that are done by these environmental groups less stressful on their part. The most common trash item were cigarette butts as they were scattered in non-smoking areas such as common gathering places, the grass, smashed into parts of the pavement, or strewn about the permitted smoking gazebos as smokers carelessly or intentionally throw their used up cigarettes away on the ground or miss the cigarette disposal.

Although the morning was hot and we wore black t-shirts my friends and I had a lot of fun. We listened to music as a group and as we finished up our assigned area we helped others with their assignments before heading back to the campus center around 11 a.m. for lunch. Lunch was provided by the staff as well and during our lunch session we held a reflection session around one main topic – What did this service project mean to you? To me, this service project goes to show that something as simple as picking up trash can make a huge impact in the community. After attending the Day of Service I feel as if I have a personal sense of duty to help continue keeping Stockton a green campus by picking up trash and throwing it away properly. This Stockton experience was well worth all the work and effort put into it and it felt rewarding to give back to the Stockton Community.