On October 29, I went to Who’s Line in the campus theater. Multiple times throughout the semester the theater club hosts these shows, and anyone can go. I had gone to previous Who’s Lines, and my friends wanted to go, so I went as well. Who’s Line is just a combination of small, short skits performed one after another. The audience also participates in a few skits by picking scenarios or getting to go on stage and taking part in a skit. At this Who’s Line, one of the skits was Party Quirks. In this skit, the audience gave three performers party quirks. This means that each performer would get a different quirk and would have to act with that quirk until the party host guessed his/her quirk. This skit is always funny because sometimes the quirk is very hard to act out or guess, and the audience is also a part of the skit.
Another skit the theater club did is the alphabet game. The alphabet game is when two performers are talking to each other about a topic of the audience’s choosing, but the first letter of the first word the first person says has to start with an A. Then, the second person starts with B, and this progression continues until they get to Z. This skit is always very funny as it continues on because it is usually impossible to say anything relevant with letters like X or Z. These letters usually result in x-ray, xylophone, zebra, or other words that usually don’t work with the topic. The performers also get frustrated when they have to say these words, and that increases the humor of the skit.
The last skit is helping hands. This skit is always very good to end Who’s Line. It involves four people: two people get behind two other people and function as the hands of the other person in front of them. Food is then placed on a table in front of the people and the two people using their hands feed the other two. There is also a variety of food like salad dressing, bread, cereal, and others. This skit usually ends up as two people having their faces covered in food, and everyone laughing as the show reaches its end.

On September 27, I volunteered at the Atlantic County Animal Shelter in Pleasantville. This was an honors service activity that takes place once a semester, which means I can continue with this activity. For this project, a small group of honors students traveled to the animal shelter to help with whatever was needed for about four to five hours. During this time, I, with my two friends Victoria and Drew, swept, vacuumed, and mopped the floor. We also took out the trash and put in new trash bags. Other students cleaned the cages for the cats or helped with the sick cats. Although we were there for about four hours, my part in volunteering only took about one hour. With the rest of our time there, Drew, Victoria, and I helped for a little with the sick cats. After this, we played with the cats and then the dogs.
I can honestly say that playing with the cats and dogs was the best part. However, the overall experience was a very good one. My part in volunteering was very efficient and a necessary cog in the overall operation. I know the workers there were grateful for what we did and would welcome us back in a heartbeat. It was also enjoyable cleaning up, because I had my friends Drew and Victoria with me. Also, during this time, I meet one of the parrots that would consistently say, “Hello.” After this, the cuteness factor increased though. Drew, Victoria, and I went to help with the sick kittens which mostly just sneezed but acted normally other than that. We got to hold the kittens and play with them which was one of best parts of the day. Once the kittens were taken care of, and everyone finished their jobs, we were allowed to play with the dogs. Playing with the dogs was a great reward for a few hours of work. We were allowed to take a few out, and these dogs were very energetic and ready to play. It was a great ending to the day. This total experience was one of the most enjoyable service projects I have done. I would definitely recommend it to other students, and there is a high possibility that I will go again myself.

The Glow Walk

On September 23 I got the opportunity to take part in a Greek Life sponsored event called the Glow Walk. The event itself, was a 5K walk around the track located behind the freshman housing, and for every lap completed students received glow sticks. The Delta Zeta sorority and Alpha Chi Rho fraternity were responsible for organizing the Glow Walk and making sure the proceeds to The New Jersey Hearing Aid Campaign and the American Cancer Society.

The event started at 8 o’clock in the evening, right outside big blue. Once inside the gate students and other participants could see the hundreds of glow sticks that were used to light up the track. I showed up a few minutes after 8 and the track was already filled with hundreds of participants waiting patiently to begin. After donating 5 dollars, my friends and I were given a glow stick and told that we could earn more by completing more laps. Not long after we arrived, the music started and so did the people on the track. I walked 8 laps with one or two friends while other participants jogged or walked, or in some cases even sprinted. I ended up with 9 glow sticks at the end of night like many other people but I also left with an abundance of happiness knowing that the money that I donated would help other people who were not yet, as happy as me.

While walking on the track, I only saw happy people. Whether people were running or walking they were all happy and singing or talking to their friends. There was even groups of people competing against each other for the most glow sticks.  Delta Zeta and Alpha Chi Rho did a fantastic job planning and coordinating the event and should be very proud of themselves for doing so. It was not only a great fundraiser, but a great way to meet new students. I look forward to participating next year and many years to come.

Almost every student who attends Stockton can admit that they spend a lot of their time in the Campus Center regardless of whether they live on campus or not. Some like to go to the Dunkin Donuts located inside before class to grab breakfast, while others simply like to bring their laptops and use it as a place to work. When I usually go to the campus center, I find myself spending most of my time playing pool or ping pong in the game room with my friends. Since many students also enjoy spending time in the game room, the Stockton Entertainment Team decided to host the SET Game Room Tournament on the night of November 11 to help students get to know each other better and to have fun.

The Game Room Tournament actually consisted of three small tournaments that allowed its participants to compete to see who was the best ping pong, pool, or shuffle board player. While participants were waiting to be called to compete in their game, SET also provided everyone with free refreshments and music in the background. Each participant was allowed to sign up for as many tournaments as they wanted. In fact, they could have competed in all three if they really wanted too. Since I knew that I was not very good at ping pong or shuffle board, I decided to only compete in the pool tournament since that was a game I was very comfortable with. Unfortunately for me, I had to play against a tough opponent in the first round and lost by not hitting the eight ball hard enough and giving her an easy shot for the win.

Even though I was only able to play one game of pool, I still had a very good time watching my friends play and enjoying the atmosphere. From what I could tell, it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves too. It was cool to see how good some of my peers around me are at some of the games, and more importantly everyone was a good sport. Whenever someone was struggling, their opponent or a more experienced player watching would offer advice to help them learn and improve. I felt that SET did a very good job organizing and setting up the event because there was almost no confusion despite the large group of people participating and they had enough refreshments and activities to keep us busy even if we were not currently playing. The Game Room Tournament was a big success in my opinion and I hope that they have another tournament again next semester!

On November 13^th I attended the play “Crumble: Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake” in the Experimental Theater at Richard Stockton College and was thoroughly impressed with the production.  Each character was casted perfectly and portrayed their character perfectly.  It was easy to choose a character to relate to because each was completely different from the next.  The little girl was reckless and misunderstood. She was also hilarious with her childish humor and belief in the make-believe.  Then there was the Cat Lady who had fifty-seven cats.  She used her cats to avoid the truth that she could not have children.  She was constantly looking for something to fill the space she had left that only having her own children would fill. The Mom was constantly trying to force a connection between her and her daughter.  The father’s death was very traumatic for both of them and in it they became very distant from each other.  The House was also dealing with a lot of loss.  He was run down and needed some serious repairs.  He would do anything to feel emotion again from any of the people living in him.

Through this play it became evident to me that everyone copes with loss in their own ways.  Whether it was the loss of a loved one, the loss of what was or the loss of what could be, everyone has their own specific coping mechanism.  Each of the characters were suffering from loses in each area and yet they tried to cope completely separately.   It was not until they all realized that they were all feeling the same during the big event that they saw that each person was suffering from the same thing as each other.  They all needed to be fixed, but they needed each other’s help to become whole again.

I suggest that if anyone gets a chance to see this play again that they purchase tickets immediately.

On Friday, October 10, 2014, Stockton held its annual Spirit Day in honor of Homecoming Weekend 2014. The event was organized by the Office of Student Development and it encouraged students to show their school spirit by participating in various Stockton related activities.

One of these activities included a college t-shirt exchange. If you had any t-shirts or other clothing that came from another college or university, you were able to exchange them in the campus center and receive a new Stockton t-shirt in return. All of the items that were exchanged were donated to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission. Along with the t-shirt exchange, later that night Stockton held its annual Homecoming Ceremony at Big Blue. The purpose for the ceremony was to celebrate and honor all of Stockton’s student-athletes, as well as crown the 2014 Homecoming King and Queen, Mat Greer and Laura Groh. Students who stuck around to see SET’s One Night Stand Up comedy show later on were served free pizza and drinks, and were also given a free Stockton Homecoming 2014 t-shirt.

Based on the amount of people that went to and participated in each activity, it seemed very clear to me that there was no shortage of school spirit at Stockton. Almost every student I saw was wearing at least one article of clothing that represented Stockton, and everyone was having a great time during the ceremony and comedy show. Back in high school, Homecoming always seemed centered around the school’s football team and Homecoming Court, and excluded everyone else. As a Stockton student-athlete, I was pleasantly surprised to see that every Stockton sport was recognized in some shape or form and no one was forgotten about. It’s small things like this that help bring the Stockton student body even closer together instead of separating us by focusing on only certain groups or individuals. Overall, Stockton Homecoming 2014 was a major success and I cannot wait to see what’s in store next year for Homecoming 2015!

I, like many people of the world, enjoy food, and we need food to nourish our bodies so that they can perform the daily tasks we need to accomplish each day. Unfortunately, sometimes I don’t eat like I should, and I load up on the junk food that is available to me or skip meals entirely. Today’s situation was composed of both evils, first skipping breakfast in favor of sleeping after math class and only eating some trail mix and a pack of gummies for lunch. Needless to say, I was hungry when I got into the N-Wing Cafeteria, ready to chow down on my usual salad bar salad and piles of blanched vegetables. However, once the woman at the cash register swiped my ID and gave me my receipt, I headed for the stations and found that they were completely empty, not a speck of food in sight.

I caught a whiff of something that smelled delicious and promptly turned my head to find that the dining area had been overtaken by Thanksgiving food stations, the selection of food tantalizing to say the least. I had gotten there at the tail end of dinner time, around 7:00, so most of the food had been eaten already, but there was still plenty to take. I was not expecting giant turkey legs, cranberry sauce, large roasted potatoes and other holiday goodies to be lining the tables, but I didn’t complain or question why the cafeteria was doing this. I took a plate and filled it with the food mentioned above, grabbing a cup of ginger ale to go with it, since that soda has always helped me to relieve stomach aches from eating too fast. To top off a great dinner time, the TV that sits above the bread and waffle station was tuned to Project Runway, and since I haven’t seen that show in forever, I decided to sit down at the counter and watch. There was another boy next to me that was eating, not really watching the show but listening in occasionally. During the commercials, I tried to make small talk about how Nutella changed their slogan from “a hint of cocoa” to flat out saying that it had cocoa in it, and that escalated  into us talking about Nutella and our heritages and pets and turkey and the show in front of us. Even though we didn’t talk long, it was really nice to meet a friendly person who was willing to talk about things with me and I was kind of sad to see him go.

That dinner was the best that I have had in a while; it felt like I was at my nana’s house instead of on campus. The only thing that was slightly off was that the giant turkey leg that I had contained all of these thin, flat, long, pointy bones that I had to pick out of my mouth. It felt like I was eating a porcupine, but it was an extremely delicious porcupine. Now I just have to wait until next Thursday when I can celebrate with my parents, cousins, relatives, and grandparents and hope that the food there matches or surpasses the food that was served on campus.

On Friday, November 14, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., I went to Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake), presented by the School of Arts and Humanities Theatre Program. The play took place in the Experimental Theatre. The play had five characters total: the Mother, Janice (the pre-teenage daughter), Barbara (the sister of the mother), the Father/Justin Timberlake/Harrison Ford, and the Apartment.

The stage was set up to be three different rooms. The room to the left was Barbara’s living room. Barbara was characterized as a “cat lady” so her living room wall was decorated with pictures of all her cats. There were also cans of tuna fish scattered around, which she was found constantly eating. The center room was the living room and dining room of the apartment. The apartment was very dirty and run down. There was a window missing that was covered by a piece of wood and the wallpaper was falling off. The last room, all the way to the right, was Janice’s bedroom. There were toys and dolls all over the floor and multiple pictures and posters of Justin Timberlake covering the wall.

The central plot of the play focuses on how the mother and Janice are doing ever since losing their husband/father. Janice is going through a dark, twisted time, until she is visited by her celebrity crush, Justin Timberlake. He helps her devise a plan to bring her family back together, by making a “wish doll.” Janice asks her mother for weird supplies for Christmas in order to make it. Her mother, desperate to be able to have a relationship with her daughter again, reluctantly agrees. On Christmas morning, the doll goes horribly wrong and results with Janice losing her hand. This causes the mother, who is prone to having panic attacks throughout the whole play, to be strong for Janice and ultimately brings them back together.

I thoroughly enjoyed the play. I thought the acting was incredible and the plot was extremely interesting. It had my attention from the opening scene and I was hooked. I was so tempted to see it the next two nights and recommended it to everyone. I look forward to going to see more productions that the School of Arts and Humanities Theatre Program puts on.

The Stockton event that I went to was the Stockton Spirit Night on October 10, 2014 at 6 PM. It was led by the Director of Student Development, Jeff Wakemen. The event was opened by the Student Senate President who encouraged all students to find ways to get involved on campus. The Student Development Director then invited all the sports teams to send a representative to give a brief speech on their current or upcoming season. The representatives told the students about when the games would be occurring, their locations, and their record.There were performances by the cheer team, dance club, and the American Sign Language Club who signed to the song “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. This was the first major event of the Homecoming Weekend so the Assistant Director of Student Development, Lauren Wilson, introduced all the other events that would be occurring during the weekend and encouraged all the students to attend as many as possible.

Toward the end of the event, they announced the Homecoming King and Queen. They discussed the theme, Heroic Superheroes, and what it means to be one. For the first time students had the opportunity to have an input on who becomes Homecoming King and Queen. The top three nominees for king and queen who had the most popular votes were considered for the title by a small committee. They introduced the nominees and then announced the winners. At the end of the night they gave out free Homecoming t-shirts and pizza. The DJ continued to play music and people danced and relaxed until the comedy show.

The Stockton event that I went to was the Student Senate meeting on September 9, 2014 at 4:30 PM. This activity was part of a series. The organization meets every other Tuesday to have a large meeting that is open to the public. On the alternate Tuesdays, the smaller committees meet individually. The meeting was the first of the year. Student Senate is composed of five different committees: government affairs, student affairs, public relations, finances, and academic affairs. There was overseen by a committee chair person. The meetings are run by the Student Senate President and Vice President.

At the meeting, the different committees discussed their plans and goals for the year. The committees also discussed what they accomplished over the sumer. The President also explained what was done over the summer in his President’s Report which opened the meeting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting. It was interesting to hear about a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on here at Stockton. It was nice to hear that the Student Senate is always here to listen to what students want in their school, because they truly want to make Stockton a better place. I want to continue to go to meetings every other Tuesday and I hope to be a part of the Student Senate in the near future.