On Sunday October 12th the Stockton Quidditch club held a Hero’s vs Villains homecoming tournament. This event is held every year for Stockton’s homecoming weekend and is open for the public to view and even participate in. The purpose of the event was to help promote the club and the sport while also raising money by selling fun tee shirts. This event was effective at promoting Quidditch as a fun and accepting game and it even raised a good deal of money for tee shirt sales. The event was ran by seasoned Quidditch players split into two teams, the hero’s and the villains. The hero’s wore white and the villains wore black and both had the names of a famous hero or villain embroidered across the back of the player’s shirts, i.e. Iron man and Darth Vader. The game was fast paced, action packed, humorous and, most importantly, fun both to watch and play. Even audience members got involved and were taught how to play by the Quidditch club members. At the end of the day people left with a better appreciation and understanding for the game of Quidditch. I went to this event because I am a member of the organization, and went to it as a formality, but I was pleasantly surprised and genuinely had a good time. My favorite part about the whole experience however was seeing all the other fellow Harry Potter fans dressed up and supporting the event. It was a crowd full of geeks and I couldn’t feel more at home. Another part of the event that will stick with me was when members of the audience were asked if they wanted to play. The reason why was that I got to see kids hop on a broom stick and run around watching their faces light up, even if for just a moment, as if they were actually in the magical world of Harry Potter. After attending this event I most certainly will be returning next year and hopefully be playing in it as well. At the end of the day I left the pitch with a cool new tee shirt and smile on my face.

This past Tuesday I attended The Stockton Scholarship Recognition Dinner. This prestigious event allows all those who are awarded scholarships to meet and have dinner with the donors behind their financial aid. The event took place in the campus center event room from 530pm to 830pm. Upon entering each guest was given a name tag and assigned a seat at one of 38 tables. The guests sitting at each table varied between students, donors, and faculty. The food was served buffet style and was very delicious, but as good as the main course was the desert was even tastier. However before the food was served, Stockton’s president gave a very motivating and moving speech that gave students and donors further incentive to work hard and donate. After the main course each Dean of Stockton’s different schools of study came up and introduced the recipient of that schools scholarship. The student recipients from each school then gave short speech about how valuable each scholarship is to them and the many accomplishments they have and are going to achieve with it. At the end of the night a big group photo was taken to commemorate the evening’s festivities and all those who attended this splendid occasion. This entire event was fun and humbling, as I got to see the many other students who worked far harder than I to receive Stockton’s many prestigious scholarships. The event also seemed to be an effective way to further secure the continuous and growing financial donation for Stockton’s scholarship program, from its many donors. Because the donors were able to sit down and talk with the scholarship recipients they were able to see to whom their money was going to and the incredible impact and aid it has given to the students. The donors could see just how important their donations are and that their money is not going to waste. The event, at least for me, gave students motivation to work harder and learn as much as they can, because they got to see just how valuable their scholarships are. All in all my fellow students and I enjoyed ourselves. The good food and good company made for a pleasant and memorable night.

On November 8th at approximately 8:00 pm, the Stockton Entertainment Team – also known as SET- hosted their own version of the popular American singing talent contest, The Voice. Having many aspects of this program based off of the NBC show, SET had four judges sit on stage and choose contestants. These judges were to swivel their chair around during any contestant’s performance when they heard the voice of a singer they wanted on their team to take under their wing during the show’s brief intermission.

At the start of the event it was announced there would be eleven contestants, and three rounds. Many of the contestants did not come with a prepared track to sing to. They instead chose to sing their songs acapella, meaning they had no background music. The only contestant that did come to the show with a prepared track list was, the Honor’s Program very own, Krista Thomson. The musical background truly helped to enhance her performance, a feature all other contestants lacked. Because of this set back, the general performance quality was not as high as anticipated. The judges’ buzzers, which were meant to indicate that they wanted a performer on their team, never worked for any of the judges. This drastically changed the show. The buzzers never cooperated with any of the judges and had to be removed from the table before the first contestant was done performing. This unfortunate circumstance made it unclear as to which judge choose each performer first. Because of these factors, the entire event seemed to lack any true planning or rehearsal.

Overall, the Stockton Entertainment Team tried their best to provide students with an entertaining contest that was enjoyable for all involved. For the most part they did a pretty good job. With the exception of what seemed to be a lack of preparation, The Voice was enjoyable. It was nice to see fellow students bravely get up on stage and sing their hearts out, all for the grand prize of a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card.

On October 18^th, I did the Afternoon of Service. There were many different service projects that benefited different organizations. We made cards for soldiers and hospitalized children, made bears for children staying in the Ronald McDonald House, made wreaths for the Ronald McDonald House, made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, made dog toys for the animal shelter and colored pictures for soldiers and children who are ill.

Since there were so many stations, everyone went to the project they wanted to do and were able to switch whenever he or she wanted. For the three hours that I was there, I made teddy bears for the children in the Ronald McDonald House. This was one of the best service projects that I participated in. It felt amazing to know that we were not just helping one group of people but many organizations and people in need. But the best part was that at the end, the coordinator talked about who specifically we were helping and why we were helping them. She also informed us on what the non-profit organizations do and why it is a good idea to help that certain organization out. In all the service events I have been to, no one has ever told me what I was really there for and who my volunteering really helped.

In the end we made 138 dog toys for the animal shelter, 52 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 40 coloring pages, 27 door hangers, 21 coloring books, 9 teddy bears, 3 cards, and 2 wreaths. Those numbers are amazing. Even though many people did not show up for the event, our small group of people got a lot done. I left feeling amazing that day!

Josh Pagan

Stockton Farm Trip

I volunteered at the Stockton Farm with my Freshman Seminar class. Instead of meeting for class, we all got on a shuttle together to go to the farm because it went along with the book we were reading at the time, which was about eating locally grown food. Having previously filled out our safety waivers, we arrived and were given our assignments. My assignment was to dig beds for garlic cloves that would grow during the fall season and into winter. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the beds being too close, and all my hard work was destroyed and dug over because my bed couldn’t fit. Instead of sulking over my destroyed work, I continued by planting the garlic cloves into the beds that were not destroyed. This assignment was amusing because the garlic cloves had little hairs protruding from the dirt after it was all done. After finishing, I decided to eat one of the habanero peppers that they had. This was a huge mistake due to my lack of a drink and the fact that they had been water deprived which causes peppers to be even spicier than usual.

Doing this project was an enjoyable parallel to what we have read in class, such as in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where farmers grew their own local foods. It was a strange experience to see where our food actually comes from, considering I am wired to think that it comes from the grocery store shelf and not from the dirt. The amount of work that goes into running the Stockton Farm must be immense and I applaud the people that keep it going. I know my back was hurting the next day after all of that work I put into shoveling the garlic beds and then planting them. Their hard work and determination will someday hopefully change the views people have of their food.

Josh Pagan

Atlantic County Animal Shelter

On September 27th, I volunteered at the Atlantic County Animal Shelter with the Honors Program. Although rides were not provided, I decided to carpool with some friends that were just as excited as I was to volunteer at the shelter. After filling out wavers, I was assigned to take care of cats. These were no ordinary cats, though. This was the cat infirmary and it was one of the cutest yet saddest things I have ever seen. The cats ranged from small, fist sized kittens to fully grown cats. Some were so sick a mere sneeze would send them flying to the ground. I had the privilege of cleaning their cages, feeding them, and showing them love in the process. During this time, I had to handle each cat and move them to an alternate holding cell so that I could clean their cage. This mostly turned into holding each cat for five minutes before any work even began. By the end, I had grown quite fond of a cat named Uri that reminded me of my cat from home and I just wanted to take him home. Frankly, I wanted to take all of those cats home because I am a crazy cat lady at heart.

Doing this project gave me a newfound respect for people that work at animal shelters and a new outlook on how important it is to adopt from local shelters if one is thinking about getting a dog or cat. The jobs that these people have to perform are not pretty. Some of these jobs include scooping poop, cleaning throw up, and cleaning countless cages. Regardless, most of the workers perform all of these duties with a smile on their face. It was hard for me to do my job with a smile because of the conditions that these animals were in. However, I would be more than glad to volunteer again there after such a rewarding experience.

Josh Pagan

Day of Service

On September 6th I did the Richard Stockton College’s 11th annual day of service. I decided to do the project called Books Without Borders. I looked at some other projects such as Water Watch but decided on Books Without Borders because I enjoy books and there was plenty of seats for my friends to also join me. In this project our job was to move boxes of books out of cars and storage to begin sorting them into their respective subjects. These books ranged widely from college textbooks to novels to children’s books. After sorting them all they would be put back into boxes and shipped to other countries to people who needed them hence the name Books Without Borders. I took it upon myself to sort out all of the science books because I am a biology major and science is my favorite subject. It was very relaxing organizing all of the books and knowing it was for a good cause. At one point I also helped clean up all of the trash that was accumulated from many empty boxes that all of the books came in.

Doing this project gave me a new outlook on books. I always looked at them as an annoyance to be forced to read them for school, but some people don’t even have them and they are actually a huge privilege. Everyone learns from these books and for people who don’t have the privilege of attending a college like Stockton, those books are their only source of knowledge and a greater education. Knowing that attending and helping with this project helped me give this privilege to other individuals made me feel great. I know that I will most likely never meet the people that will receive these books but it is enough knowing that they will be able to get so much knowledge out of them. I would enjoy doing this project again at the next day of service because I know exactly what it is about and I support what the project is about one hundred percent.

Olivia Gorecke

Prof. L. Rosner

Life of the Mind

21 November 2014

The Trial of the Catonsville Nine

On Monday, November 3^rd, members of Professor O’Hara’s Dissent in America course performed scenes from Daniel Berrigan’s play, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. As a member of the class, I was able to participate in this performance.

The play itself was adapted from court transcripts, and turned into a form of free verse by defendant and priest Daniel Berrigan. He and nine others, during the height of the Vietnam War, took over three hundred draft files from the Catonsville, Maryland draft board and publicly burned them with homemade napalm. While the files were burning, the nine held hands and prayed over them, waiting for the authorities to come. The play chronicles the trial in an almost poetic way, ultimately leading to the guilty verdict for all nine defendants.

The class and myself worked on this play for months. Professor O’Hara explained that this was much more than simply putting on a show, and that the themes of civil disobedience and resistance displayed by the nine are more relevant now than ever.   I was extremely happy that I was present for and participated in the retelling of such a key moment of American dissent.

Tuckerton Seaport was alive in the spirit of Halloween. Skeletal hands breached the dirt surface, a slender neck hung loosely from the noose of a rope, held fast to the edge of a tiled roof, and dolls decked in bloodstained dresses leered at passerby from their seats.

The seaport is the historic reservoir of the Tuckerton community, retaining local relics dating back earlier than 1920s. In 2012, the Seaport had a nasty encounter with Sandy, and is still recovering in many ways from the storm and its destruction. The little community port was setting up for their upcoming annual Halloween party, complete with haunted walks and a corn maze, and supplemented by information of the port’s rich history and folklore. There were only a few people working diligently in preparation, so crew needed help setting up. Our team was there for Make a Difference Day, a day designated to set trivial matters or work aside and volunteer time or materials to people who need them.

The light breeze carried over the port, bathing our skin and clothes in the salty air. We had to squint every time we faced east. Even though some would argue we lucked out with the weather, the sun was bright and made it difficult to see, creating a paradox of warmth as we shivered in the cool air. Regardless, we all ended up with our jackets off as we got into our work. We transported chairs from the second floor of the museum to the house down the path, setting them up in orderly rows for a presentation later that evening. We then took on the task of restoring the front entrance in a new coat of white paint. There was only so much we cold do in the few hours we had, but by the time we had finished, the place looked incredible. The front entrance looked brand new, the decorations were in place, and the seaport was just about ready for its haunted walk later that night. The director thanked us earnestly, and invited us back later that night for the event. We thanked in in return as we boarded the vans back to school. I’d love to return, even if just to walk the boards and take in the rich calming atmosphere as I look out over the water.

Saturday November 1, 2014 was the honors freshman trip to the city of Philadelphia. The honors students met by the Stockton’s Arts and Sciences court at 9:20am, loaded the bus, and our adventure began!

The bus arrived in Philadelphia at the first stop, the Mummer’s Museum. I was shocked the hear that some of my fellow classmates have never heard of or know what the Mummers are, because I have grown up my entire life seeing the Mummers perform in local parades. A former Mummer met us at the entrance of the museum and was going to be our personal tour guide. He took us around the museum and we were able to see some of the costumes on display that were wore in the parades up close, and a card in front of the costume said exactly what parade the costume was worn in. It is definitely better seeing the costumes in person than on the television screen because I was able to see the details in the costumes. There even was a section of the museum that had costumes and props that we were able to try on.

Then, the group boarded the bus again and made our way to Ninth Street, where the bus dropped us off at a market. We were able to roam around the streets to see what we found. There were all sorts of butcher shops, places that sell fish, grocery like shops, and restaurants. As my friends and I were walking, we saw a pizza place, which we ate at and were served AMAZING pizza. After eating the delicious pizza, we continued to roam the streets and found a cute little candy shop, which sold cookies, chocolate, ice-cream, chocolate covered strawberries, and many more sweets.

Overall, even though it was a rainy day, I think we all managed to have a great time at the Mummer’s Museum and exploring the streets of Philadelphia!