On Thursday, September 29 2016, the freshman convocation was held in the Performing Arts Center, and was centered around Ellen Forney as the guest speaker. Forney was the illustrator for the common reading book from the summer, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part – Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. She explained how Alexie had contacted her and asked if she would be interested in being his illustrator since he was a fan of her previous works. Forney then discussed many topics and ideas with the audience, such as her different styles of drawing and the specific meanings and purposes of each; for example, how more whimsical and loose drawings that seemed to be created more sloppily and quicker presented a different meaning than a formal sketch with proportionate aspects would. Along with the information she was sharing about her illustrating techniques, she also included a presentation with actual illustrations from Alexie’s novel to help give the audience a visual of what she was explaining.

She later discussed her newest book, Marbles, in which she takes the readers through her experience of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and also how she overcame the adversities that came along with receiving the diagnosis. Forney also shared a few illustrations from Marbles as well.

All in all, it was an interesting event to attend, and offered an effective recap of the summer reading and some of the themes that were present within it, as well as get a sense of what some of Forney’s other work looks like. At the end of her presentation, she strongly encouraged the audience to share their stories and experiences with the world, whether it be through writing, pictures, or more specifically, through comics.

On February 26, the Career Center held a Career Fair in the Campus Center Event Room for students to meet and interact with representatives of many businesses and places of work. I was suggested to go by my Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism Management professor to attend, regardless of our majors, to see some options we had in the area for jobs or internships in the future. Business professional attire was strongly encouraged due to the possibility of meeting a future employer. Upon entering the fair we were given a catalogue containing the table numbers of each business, along with a description of each, along with the degrees the employers looked for in students. Being undeclared and unsure of what I wanted to do, this kind of limited my opportunities, but I decided to look at each table regardless.
The businesses, depending on the type and/or place of work, offered opportunities for temporary/part-time jobs, full-time jobs for after graduation, and summer internships. I thought that the range of options was very beneficial for students of any year, especially because I am a freshman. However, I think that more freshmen, regardless of their major, should start looking into potential career opportunities. The career fair was a great way to do so, because I talked to many professionals from different fields who gave me ideas as to what I would like to do in my career once I graduate.
I would strongly suggest every student visits the career fairs whenever they are offered by the career center here at Stockton. It was a great chance to see what kinds of employers are in the area and looking for Stockton graduates to represent them. I will definitely be attending the career fair next year if it is hosted again.

A few weekends ago, my friends and I decided to watch Big Hero Six, a Disney-Pixar movie that was playing in the Campus Center Theatre. I had seen the movie when it was first released, but enjoyed it so much as to see it again. Also, who wouldn’t want to see a movie on a Saturday night with their friends?
The animated movie is about a young genius named Hiro Hamada, an aspiring robot fighter (and quite the hustler) who has no intentions for using his inventiveness for college, that is, until his older brother, Tadashi, convinces him to apply. Hiro applies through a showcase held by the school, where the person who develops the most innovative technology is guaranteed acceptance from the Dean of the school. Hiro develops “microbots,” a uncountable amount of mini robots that, upon wearing a neurotransmitter headband, will shape themselves into anything the mind can create and even build tangible objects through this shape-shifting. Hiro showcases his invention and amazes the entire audience, thus granting his acceptance into the college and even being offered millions of dollars for his inventions by another scientist, which Hiro respectfully declines.
However, things take a turn for the worse as a tragedy occurs, shaping the future for these microbots to be of destruction due to the evil intentions of a certain individual. Hiro must band together with his friends, as well as Baymax, a healthcare robot whom Tadashi had developed in school, to stop the antagonist and secure the neurotransmitter headband. The movie, overall, has the tragedy and emotional appeal of any great Disney movie, but also provides comedy for all ages especially through the character of Baymax. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, as I’ve seen it three times total, and would definitely see it again if given the opportunity.

On Saturday, April 23rd, I filmed my second short film with SSTV.  Entitled “Shoot Fast, Speak Easy,” it was for my Honors Literature and Society class, which focuses on 1920s literature and culture.

When I tell people on campus about SSTV, many of them are surprised.  Hardly anyone on campus knows about it, which is truly a shame, as SSTV provides great opportunities to ALL students, not just communication majors.  For instance, they:

• loan cameras and equipment out to students
• help students film and edit movies for class and for fun
• produce several shows including Stockton News, Latino Motion, and Skeleton Scripts
• teach students how to use editing software
• give students opportunities to work as crew on different shoots

In fact, I only stumbled upon SSTV by chance.  My friend Mary said there was a Theater Club meeting in the upstairs Campus Center.  I happened to get out of class early that day, so I thought, why not?  The Theater Club meeting was being held in the SSTV office to plan “Skeleton Scripts:” I am now a member of the cast.  I wrote a blog about filming the pilot last semester.

Anyway, back to my film. SSTV was great – there were four people on crew, and they provided a DSLR camera, tripods, a boom mike, and lights.  They are always super helpful, and give me feedback on scenes, dialogue, and more as we go along.  The shoot lasted about four hours.

I am currently editing my film, something I really love doing.  Editing is really one of my passions!  It’s nice having the other SSTV members there to give me guidance while I work, and they’re loads of fun to be around!

I can’t wait to be more involved with SSTV next semester!

Over the course of the fall semester, once a week I went to my Chamber Orchestra class in Alton Auditorium, which included a total of seven people. With each musician on a different instrument, our director knew it would be difficult to find repertoire that would best suit the rare mixture of sounds. He settled on a Haydn symphony to be our main focus for the semester, putting me on the violin part even though I play flute, and improvising with other parts as he needed. We continued through the semester working intensely on this piece, as well as several chorales for the strings and winds, switching back and forth between the groups during class.
On December 3, as the semester came to an end, Dr. Di Santo invited the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, an adult group of profound musicians in the Atlantic county area, to perform the Haydn symphony with us, as well as a few of their own selections. Having their addition of experience and sound to our group only made the symphony all the more powerful and reverberating by the end. Hearing our performance as we played was an amazing experience all in its own, because it creates a sense of accomplishment and surprises one of what they are capable of. This is one of the aspects I have always enjoyed about music, and why I was so interested in continuing music in college.
A week later, on December 10, the last day of the semester, our ensemble performed again, this time on our own. We performed the symphony as well as our string and wind chorales. Although we had a smaller crowd due to it being the end of the semester, my parents were able to attend before bringing me home, and it was as if I were performing as I did in high school again. I fully appreciated the opportunity to work as hard as I could during the semester on making music and being able to display what we have accomplished. No matter the size of the crowd, performing on any level has always been a passion of mine, as well as simply playing during rehearsal. I am currently enrolled for this course again during this current semester, so I am excited to see what we will perform at our next concert!

On November 18, my RA, Julie Eller, planned a floor program called “Barbie Bash,” where my floor as well as friends from other floors and buildings were invited to D200 to make our own “Barbie Dolls” that look however we perceive ourselves. So, we all crowded into our common room, drew mini versions of ourselves, cut them out, and colored whatever outfits, hair, or facial expressions we wanted on them. I ended up drawing the outfit I planned on wearing the next day on my Barbie!
The purpose of this program was to promote a movement of “Realistic Barbies” and to encourage girls to embrace their own beauty, rather than being discouraged by Barbie’s unrealistic proportions. Julie showed us articles and videos during our program that showed a real young woman’s body proportions compared to that of Barbie, which were way too small to actually survive as a human. In reality, if Barbie and her proportions were real, she would not be able to hold her head up right, lift heavy objects, or walk on two legs. Therefore, this movement is spreading across the nation, and has even resulted in the creation of the “Lammily doll,” which has the average proportions of a 19-year-old girl. The creator of these dolls has a goal of showing girls of this age and even younger that there is nothing wrong with not being of Barbie’s size, because it is simply impossible.
This program spoke to every single one of us, as we are all of similar ages on my floor, new college students surrounded by new people and perceptions of ourselves, and everyone, at some point, has had self-doubt about their own appearance. By creating our own doll and taking a picture with it afterwards, it opened my eyes to how special it is for everyone to be unique and beautiful in our own way. Barbie Bash was one of my favorite floor programs, and after this program Julie posted Selfies of each of us without makeup on and left paper underneath each one. Everyone left comments about each other, and reading the ones under my picture were so thoughtful and made me really feel great about myself. I look forward to the programs we have on our floor next semester and am thankful that Julie has such great ideas that bring people together!

This Wednesday, April 20^th, was the annual Honors barbecue.  Held in the Housing Four quad, it was a fun event where honors students could come relax, hula hoop, and eat some free burgers and hot dogs.

About thirty people showed up for the barbecue.  As an executive board member I showed up early to help out.  After the food from Chartwell’s arrived we setting everything out – cheese, ketchup, mustard, fixings, and corn on the cob.  We had to shuck the corn ourselves, and were surprised to find about six baby corns: tiny little corn cobs that had grown off the larger ones.  They were absolutely adorable!  While the plan was to grill the big corn, I was so hungry I thought I’d give raw corn a try, and I was not disappointed!  I was also the official taste tester for the first hotdog, and was given the sad, broken burger no one else wanted to eat.

The food was delicious.  There were burgers and hot dogs, as well as vegan options like veggie burgers.  There was also lemonade and iced tea to drink.  After eating the honors students were given the chance to pie an executive board member if they donated $1 to our charity, but unfortunately almost everyone had to leave early.

I really enjoyed the barbecue, and can’t wait until we do it again next year!

On the rainy morning of November 1, I, along with a good amount of other Honors students, went on the Freshman Honors Trip to Philadelphia to visit the Mummer’s Museum and Italian Market. This trip was especially enticing to me because I had never been to Philadelphia before, since I live next to New York City. Being able to visit a new renowned city seemed like an opportunity I could not refuse.
We arrived at the museum and were guided on a tour by a man whose family has always been very involved in Mummer’s parades that go on typically in Philadelphia and New York. Everything we learned was new information for me, for I had never even heard of Mummers before. In simple terms, people who participate in Mummers Parades dress up in extravagantly themed costumes and perform through the streets of these cities. In the end of the tour, we all dressed in clothing items of Mummers and took a group picture-it was very interesting to see the kinds of clothes considered “typical” to them! Also, after we tried on the costumes, Dr. Rosner had us put into groups to create a “Mummers Dance” with Halloween themes. My group was assigned “ghosts,” so we made a dance to the Ghost Busters theme song. Although it was not as top-notch as actual Mummers performances, it was very entertaining to see everyone’s dances.
After the museum, we were allowed to break off into groups and explore the Italian market of Philadelphia, which included tightly packed streets filled with vendors and restaurants. My friends and I chose to eat and a small restaurant which we all agreed had the best burgers we had ever eaten. We also went to an Italian candy shop, which had everything sweet one could imagine, all homemade. A couple of us, including myself, got gelato despite the cold, rainy weather outside, but it was well worth it. We then headed back to the bus to go back to Stockton.
The Freshman Trip, despite the weather, was a good experience, especially being my first time in Philadelphia. I throughly enjoyed spending this time with my Honors friends, and I learned a lot about Mummers and the specific area of Philadelphia. I definitely look forward to visiting Philadelphia again!

Brian Kibelstis

Last Friday, I was able to attend the Osprey XC High School Invite. The Osprey Invite is a high school cross-country meet held at the athletic complex on Pomona Road near Lot 8. The annual event is sponsored by the Stockton XC / Track program, and provides high school cross-country runners with the opportunity to win medals and be seen by college-level coaches, the latter more for upperclassmen than the freshmen and sophomores.

Among those running the meet were my former teammates from Williamstown High School, who posted a strong showing among the twelve teams racing. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams placed third in their respective races, with strong individual showings to boot. Among the medalists – comprised of the top ten runners in each varsity race – were three representatives of the Williamstown Braves teams, including a promising freshman and a graduating senior with collegiate potential. Besides the Braves, runners representing Absegami, Mainland, Raritan, Atlantic City, Brick Memorial, Cedar Creek, Holy Spirit, Oakcrest, Ocean City, Pennsauken, and Pinelands Regional competed on the course, which was noticeably – about 400m, or ¼ mile –longer than the standard 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) of a typical high school cross-country course. As a result, many times were noticeably slower, although a number of newer runners were able to break their personal records (PRs) in spite of the longer course.

Although the course was noticeably longer than a normal race – something I heard several times over from my old teammates after they ran – the winning times are still pretty impressive. The girls’ race, which started first around 4:15, was won by a runner from Mainland in 18:50, over a minute before her nearest competitor, a runner from Ocean City who crossed in 20:09. The boys’ race, which started after the girls’ race finished, was won by a runner from Absegami in 17:20, which, in a standard 5K, is a good, but not exceptional, time. When accounting for an additional 400m, however, it would equate to a 5K time of about 16:03, which is a notable time in high school cross-country; likewise, the winning girls’ time would equate to a 17:26 in an exact 5K. The top Williamstown times in each race, 17:49 in the guys’ race and 22:06 in the girls’ race, would respectively equate to about 16:30 for the graduating senior and 20:28 for the upstart freshman.

Overall, I would recommend any former high school runners to look out for this meet next year to see if your old teammates are coming to your backyard. I found out about this meet quite by accident, and I wound up having a great time reconnecting with my old coaches and teammates, seeing the latter where I was at this time last year – trying to figure out where they will end up for college, etc. – and being able to help them with it in ways I previously hadn’t been able to.

On Friday, April 22^nd, the Honors Program and Commuters on the Go hosted the first annual “Jungle Jam!,” an Earth Day celebration which aimed to raise awareness about endangered species while also collecting donations to purchase rainforest acreage.  Any collected donations went to the Earth’s Birthday Project, an organization that encourages students to take an active role in protecting the environment.  Every $50 donated helped to purchase an acre of rainforest in Peru.

The event was held in C/D Atrium from 9am to 3pm.  There were fun games, hula hoops, rainforest facts, and more for people to enjoy, or just as a way to de-stress as finals draw near.  A few people stopped to play the games, but many donated as they walked by on their way to class.

Jungle Jam was the first major service project I created here at Stockton.  I had been considering it since the fall semester, and was really excited that my service co-director and the Commuters on the Go wanted to jump on board and help out.  It took an immense amount of planning, as well as help from the Honors Program’s more artistic members, but finally it all came together!  We raised $108.29!  I was so excited!  I had no idea how the event would go, given that this was its first year.  It was great to see that other students on campus care as much about the rainforest as we do!

Hopefully we’ll be able to hold Jungle Jam! again next year, and raise even more money.  I would love for it to blossom into a really large event so we can protect even more animals and their habitats!