On October 10, Stockton College held a spirit day to raise the morale of students and their families for the Homecoming game. For weeks students have been talking about how excited they were to see Nicole Byer and Kevin Barnett, MTV comedians, take the stage and bring on the laughter.

As students gathered in Big Blue, the Stockton Entertainment Team (SET) began to raise spirits in preparation for the main event. Free Homecoming shirts were given out at a table as event staff moved chairs around to better the seating for the show. Many students also took advantage of the free pizza that was being offered for dinner.

After the meal, many rushed to the front of the seating area and anxiously awaited the night’s performers. During this time, D.J. Mike Scott played a variety of songs as numerous students jumped up on stage and danced alongside the Stockton Osprey. Everyone was happy, laughing and smiling.

A little after 8:00 p.m., comedian Nicole Byer was the first to take the stage. She shocked the audience by instantly breaking out the inappropriate jokes and language. There was a mix of laughter and gasping in the air as Nicole delivered joke after joke, interacting with the audience and cracking everyone up. Kevin Barnett followed up his Girl Code costar, delivering equally funny content. Barnett was even more interactive, asking the Homecoming King and Queen why they were dressed like “such dorks”.

Stockton Spirit Day was a success and brought a smile to many of Stockton’s students’ faces. Whether students enjoyed the free pizza, the t-shirt giveaways, or the adult content featured during SET’s “One Night Stand Up! Comedy Show!” – There was something for everyone.

Hailee Tocco

Honors Service-Learning

Professor Rosner

20 October 2014

Attending Stockton’s biannual Day of Service opened my eyes to the variety of on-campus organizations and community partners of Stockton College. Arriving at eight o’clock in the morning I was greeted at check-in with a liability release form and a shirt. Proceeding downstairs offered an array of breakfast foods to energize oneself before beginning a day of rewarding hard work. Upon announcement, all of the volunteers proceeded upstairs to choose their project for the day. My advice to anyone attending in the future would be to arrive at the event room early in order to secure your preference of service project. It was a mad dash to sign up, almost akin to musical chairs. Some of the options included South Jersey Horse Rescue, Active Minds, and Books without Borders

I chose to work with WaterWatch, an on-campus organization who takes on the challenge of cleaning the campus. Our group was tasked with the cleanup of the various parking lots. We donned gloves and were outfitted with garbage bags and set to work. The hot day made the work hard, but our group found ways to lighten the load by playing music and working as a team. Surprisingly, the campus was extremely clean except for the large numbers of cigarette butts that littered the smoking gazebos. All groups finished relatively quickly thanks to our fairly clean campus, and we were provided with lunch in the campus center. Following our nutrition break, we reflected on the ways in which we can better ensure a clean campus and how to make students more inclined to pick up their own cigarette butts.

I was skeptical at first of cleaning up the campus, but it proved to be a fun way to serve our school and it allowed me to interact with students with whom I would normally have very minimal contact. At the end of the day, it was nice to know that the trash we picked up would not be lying around campus the next week. Hopefully our service may convince some other students to think twice before littering.

In 9^th grade, I planned to do something in design for my career, so taking a clothes-making class seemed like a good place to start my journey. In that class, I learned how to sew, pin patterns, and steady my hand so that I wouldn’t botch the garments. These skills have helped me over the years to fix rips in clothes and make small outfits for my dolls, but it also helped me in another aspect; making toys as gifts and for fun. I was able to use my small amount of toy making skills to help out at the service event last Saturday held by Stockton Honors. There were many different stations, along corresponding to several local charities in need of comfort and care, but I chose the station where they were sewing and stuffing teddy bears for the Ronald McDonald house. Even though I came to the event later than I was supposed to, they still had a seat for me, so I quickly took it and settled down with my pair of scissors and an unfinished teddy bear.

Now, I wasn’t the most skilled at this craft, as I hadn’t practiced in years, but I did a pretty good job stuffing the bear and sewing up the arm so that it was tight and wouldn’t come undone. Needles are very hard to thread and thread is hard to knot, but I managed to do both over and over so that I could make a full bear instead of just finish up one. I like my bears stuffed so that they are very huggable, so I may have over stuffed them a little, but I was still able to close the unfinished bear and move onto the purple, paisley printed fabric in front of me. The bear designs were simple but cute, and I was actually able to cut out the patterns effectively. This legitimately surprised me because I usually cut an edge off or make them ragged. After staring at the two sides for a little bit, I flipped them over, pinned them together again, and rethreaded the needle with the same blue thread that I used for the unfinished bear.

My stitches were actually decent, holding in the abundance of stuffing I pushed inside the bear’s body, and once the last stitch was put it, I took a satisfied look at my toy. I felt very good about what I had done, both for myself and the children. I can say from personal experience that in times of sadness and distress, when no one is near to comfort you, a stuffed animal is a great thing to have; their soft bodies give that feeling of warmth and care that someone might need. Maybe that’s why I have two in my room, lying on my bed, waiting for me to hug them. Therefore, I was happy to help with this event and give those in unfortunate situations a little hope and love, as well as a boost in their spirits in that cold and lonely hospital room.

On Thursday October 9, I attended the Stockton Myths and Legends event. Myths and Legends was a heroic homecoming event for students and faculty. The event was hosted by staff and alumni from the first two years of the college. The panel talked to students and faculty about Stockton around the time that it was first beginning. They discussed the different influences and philosophy that helped to shape Stockton into what it is today.

At the beginning of the event, the panel introduced themselves and mentioned their favorite part of campus. They started with talking about Stockton in the beginning of its years. It turn out that Stockton started at the Mayflower Hotel. Eventually, land was bought to start building the Richard Stockton College that we all know today. One member of the panel used to be an architect, so we were told about how the college was designed to create an interactive environment. The academic building was based off of a strip mall so students would pass each other in the hall and always see each other. The panel talked a lot about their memories of Stockton in its early years and how it has changed since then.

Overall, I enjoyed the Stockton Myths and Legends event. There is a lot of history to Stockton that most people probably don’t know about. I found it interesting that Stockton started out of a hotel before the actual college campus was built. I like that I could learn the about the unknown history of my own college. I believe that I can now appreciate Stockton even more after hearing about the different events and challenges that helped to shape the college into what it is today.

On October 8, 2014, I attended the suicide prevention talk in Alton Auditorium starring Jordan Burnham of Active Minds. I was shocked by how moving this entire presentation was through the dance performance, the speech itself, and their touching meanings.

First, Teresa Andris’ dancers performed a dance piece that was about a girl who committed suicide and her peers’ reactions to her action. This dance piece was touching because it showed the affects that one individual’s action has on her loved ones’ lives.

Then, Jordan Burnham came onto the stage to share his story. Throughout Jordan’s life, he constantly suffered with depression because he felt like he did not fit in or like he greatly disappointed his loved ones. Although Jordan constantly put on the persona that he was happy, his feelings on the inside were different. One day after he felt that he had disappointed his parents so much because his father found alcohol in his car, he jumped out of his bedroom window, but somehow survived. Jordan and his family agreed to share their stories about this event to impact someone’s life and possibly prevent a suicide. Although Jordan’s story is upsetting, he is using his situation to try to help and save other individuals’ lives.

I know that an individual’s suicide has an affect on their loved ones, but I never thought of the haunting unanswered questions that they would be faced with for the rest of their lives. The performance also made me realize that sometimes the people that seem the happiest on the outside are actually the ones that are seeking and needing the most help.

We had been talking about this night for weeks. We had all of our homework done so that we could completely enjoy the night.  My roommate and I had binge watched almost every episode of Girl and Guy code. On Friday October 10^th, Nicole Byer and Kevin Barnett visited the Stockton College campus to put a show on for the students, and that was just what they did.

Nicole was first to come on and she did not waste a second before dropping her first joke. By the end of her segment, there was not one person who had not hysterically laughed at at least one of her innumerable jokes. She didn’t skip a beat during her performance. Nicole even had her outline for her jokes written on her hand. Kevin Barnett showed up just in time for his segment. He kept the laughter rolling for the next forty-five minutes.  When the show ended the crowd dispersed back to the dorms.

There is nothing quite like laughing your hardest with your closest friends. My roommate and I met up with another group of our friends in the stands. We were not prepared to laugh so hard and spent the rest of the night reliving the hour and a half long show. While forming new friendships at college every opportunity is a chance to make the bonds tighter. The people that I had not had anything in common with prior to the show I was now able to talk about the show with them. Again, the TALONS put on a great show and provided the students with a night of awesome amusement and an opportunity to become closer with our peers.

On Tuesday, September 16^th and Wednesday, September 17, 2014, the halls of Stockton College were filled with eager young men and women ready to get involved in college life. Hundreds of students ranging from freshmen to seniors came out to the semi- annual “Get Involved Fair.” Student leaders of various clubs on campus set up tables lining the academic buildings to showcase their organizations with the hopes of attracting the attention of those passing by. These club members and leaders encouraged all students to visit their tables and find out exactly what their groups had to offer. The fair featured a club for almost all interests. They ranged from academics to athletics, art to humanitarianism, and volunteer to human-interest based organizations. If, by chance, a student did not see a club that he or she wanted to join, that student could easily create one.

Along with posters and decorations, club members used several creative techniques to draw interest to their groups. Circle K, a community service organization, handed out plastic zip- lock bags containing the ingredients required to make s’mores. This treat served as a reminder to attend their meetings. Other organizations, like WLFR and PRSSA, handed out items like stickers and flyers to promote their clubs. SSTV played clips of their television show on a laptop to showcase the work of the club. These marketing techniques drew in dozens of people.

The entire experience of the “Get Involved Fair” was very interesting. I had a great time meeting so many new people and expanding my horizons. Along the way, I found some very interesting clubs that I am excited to join. It certainly showed me exactly how much Stockton really has to offer and how easy it is to get involved.

On September 27th I joined a group of Stockton students in volunteering at a local animal shelter. The establishment served a refuge to dozens of cats, dogs, and even a few domesticated birds. When we arrived our group of about ten volunteers was split into groups of three and each smaller group was given a job to do, most of which had to do with cleaning the shelter itself. On a normal day the handful of hardworking people employed at the animal shelter have to handle managing the shelter’s finances, caring for the animals’ health and wellbeing, going through endless adoption papers and processes, as well as keeping the building spotless, so we were there to take some of the pressure off of these good people, even if it was something as simple as helping clean.

My group got the task of washing all of the windows and mirrors in the building which was by no means difficult and gave us a chance to explore a little as we worked. We got to see all of the animals poking their noses out to sniff us through the bars as we oohed and aahed over them. Eventually we came to a room that was locked and a few seconds after trying the handle an employee of the animal shelter came out with a two week old pitbull puppy in her arms. She told us the room she came out of was where the more aggressive animals were kept and no unauthorized personnel were allowed in. The puppy in her arms, she told us, had a mother who was aggressive towards people, so the animal shelter workers were in the process of trying to slowly wean the puppies away from their mother’s negative influence to prevent them from being aggressive too. My entire group got to cradle the puppy before his keeper brought him back into the room and we continued our work.

After all of the windows were washed, I got to help hand out cat a dog toys that had been made at the honors experience to the animals in the shelter. As I did, I got to play with all of the kittens and cats who were more than happy to stretch their legs. This little bit of playing may seem insignificant to some people, but in my experience animals are a lot like people. A little bit of kindness means so much to the less fortunate, no matter the species, and because the shelter houses so many animals, some can go a few days with very little one-on-one attention and affection. This bonding time is important for animals, especially the little puppies and kittens. I will admit that after an hour of holding, petting, and playing with these tiny creatures I was trying to figure out where I could hide a cat bed in my tiny dorm.

After we had distributed the cat toys, we moved on to the dogs. In particular there were a few dogs that were wrapped up in an animal hoarding case that was still in court, so they could not be adopted until the case was settled. So we brought them to the big yard outside to run around and play for a little while. We played fetch, tug of war, and sometimes we just ran around with these little balls of energy. Some of the dogs were more laid back; they just stayed in the shade or came up to us and laid on our feet until we pet them. After an hour or so the dogs were tired out and it was time for us to go. We left that day tired, covered in hair, and proud that we could make a difference in the lives of these animals and the kind people that dedicate their time to helping them.

The “freshman fifteen” is a scary concept that haunts many incoming students. With the adjustment from high school to college, difficult classes, making new friends, and all other stresses can cause one’s body to react in strange ways. Since going to the gym is not that appealing to all, Stockton’s Zumba classes on Mondays and Wednesdays draw in many students for an hour of fun, stress-relieving exercise.

Two weeks ago, a group of friends from our specific building made a pact to attend the Zumba class together to avoid possible embarrassment from doing it alone. We were not all the best dancers, but the instructor taught easy moves that everyone was able to catch on to. It did not matter how talented anyone was in the realm of dancing, for each person there shimmied the best they could. Even with the sweat building up on peoples’ faces, there was no plea to leave the class early. This class seemed to bring all of those who attended together by joining them through fun dancing that burned calories.

Without stress of creating a gym routine and sticking to it, those at the class did not have to worry about what to do next, for their entire workout was planned for them by the more experienced. This class managed to lower the stress found in everyday life and allow people to let go of it for just a little while. The endorphins created from working out leaves people with more positive outlooks, and allowed me to sleep better. The Wellness Center did an excellent job at creating enjoyable programs, free of charge, for students to take that enable those to work out while making entertaining memories. By continually going to these events on campus, the student body will, overall become closer as a unified class that did their best to create a college experience that thrives from several different activities outside of the classroom.

It was a glorious day for a field trip to the Stockton Farm. The moment I went on the bus with my class, I was filled with elation. I wondered what kind of fruits and vegetables that the farm had cultivated and if the farm had sheltered any livestock. The Stockton Farm was not far from the campus. It was located at the beginning of Vera King Farris Drive, the road that links to the campus. As the shuttle bus entered the narrow pathway that led to the farm, it stopped there to drop us off. We took a pleasant hike to the farm and when we made it to the farm, we were then greeted by Jessica and Mary, two Stockton students who work at the farm.

They gave an amazing tour around the field. First, they showed us the different kinds of fertilizers they use to enrich the soil. The fertilizers are purely organic and help boost up the plant growth. Then, they showed us pesticides they use on the crops to prevent animals from eating them. I was really astounded at how there are not that many vegetables in the field. There are different pepper plants, but there were not any tomato, spinach, cucumber, lettuce, or onion plants growing. Most of the plants were eaten by groundhogs, so the farm has 10-feet fences to keep those kind of pests away. The irrigation canals were plowed really deep and it seemed like water could easily flow through the canals when it rains.

The most amazing part of this field trip was that you get to try out some of the vegetables that are grown there. I was only allowed to take one bell pepper from a plant and then I started to eat the pepper. Oh boy, it tasted really good. A friend of mine was daring herself to eat a habanero pepper and once she bit one part of it, her tongue went numb. “You can’t eat it in a plain fashion. You need to eat it when you are eating a sandwich or bowl of chili”, I said as I chuckled. Jessica and Mary even told us about the volunteering and internship opportunities that they offer at the farm. It sounded interesting and at some point in my college career, I will work at the farm. Since I had a clear understanding about what kind of seasonal vegetables grow here at the Stockton farm or even throughout the whole state of New Jersey, I was anxious to start my Animal Vegetable Miracle paper right away.