Gillian Ranes
Gen 1033: Life of Mind
Freshmen Blogging Project: Dialogue Session
Dialogue Session: “La Chancleta: Discussing Discipline vs. Child Abuse”
The event/ dialogue session I went to was called “La Chancleta: Discussing Discipline vs. Child Abuse.” It was held on Tuesday, October 11th in F111. The event was presented and made by members of the Stockton’s Latin American Student Association and Lambda Tau Omega Sorority, Incorporated.
The objective of this dialogue session was to discuss methods of discipline by parents in the Latino culture. Students shared personal anecdotes, statistics, videos, and valuable information on the Latino heritage, discipline, and child abuse in general. Students who attended this dialogue session engaged in lengthy debates on whether their personal experiences or experiences seen in the videos presented on Youtube were either discipline or abuse. Answers were extremely varied, but there was a general consensus among students that there is a fine line when discipline turns into abuse.
I enjoyed the presentation so much because I learned so much about topics that I never really thought about before, such as when discipline turns into abuse. I also enjoyed the session since I find it very important to learn about cultures that one is not necessarily a part of. This is important because so as members of society, we can all share a deeper level of understanding and empathy for one another.

Gillian Ranes
Gen 1033: Life of the Mind
September 29th 2016
Event: Freshmen Convocation
I enjoyed hearing Ellen Forney speak. I liked more things than I did not like. If I had to mention something I particularly did not relish the most, it would be that in general it is difficult to sit through hearing anybody talk for over almost an hour so at certain times it was difficult to pay attention too however the topics that Forney went into were very interesting.
I liked hearing Forney speak about “the language of cartoons.” It seems that there is not only a literary sense to it but also a science to cartoons. The words go hand in hand with the drawings to tell an unexpected story. The cartoons enhanced the book: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian so much, I probably would not have enjoyed it as much if the cartoons were not included. I could tell that even though the book was loosely based on its author’s Alexie’s life, Forney heavily identified with Junior as well because both, Forney and Junior, use cartooning as an emotional outlet. I had no idea comics could be so complex but as Forney and Sherman Alexie have both said: art can express what words cannot.
My favorite thing that Forney talked about was her own book: Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me. I liked how she was so open about her struggles with bipolar disorder. Removing the stigma related to mental illnesses is also an important topic to me as well. I can really see the beauty in using her disorder to work for her advantage by drawing in different styles to show how her mania and depression effect her differently.

Gillian Ranes
Freshmen Honors Program Blogging
Knock Out Opiates Day- October 6th 2016
The event that I attended was called “Knock Out Opiates” and it was a volunteer activity for the R.I.S.E A.B.O.V.E (Rise Above) club. Rise Above is a club that I am an active member and it stands for: Ready to Inspire Students to Excel And Better Our Various Experiences at Stockton University. The event was held on October 6th, which is national “Knock Out Opiates” day. The purpose of the activity was to raise awareness about the over-prescription of opiates, which are drugs with morphine like effects. The over-prescription of opiates usually leads to an addiction, no matter the age or socio-economic background of that person. Opiates are very expensive drugs, so the dependence often leads to an addiction to heroin, which is a cheaper and more easily accessible version of expensive, prescribed opiates such as Codeine, Vicodin, Oxycotin, Percocet, and more.
The event featured driving over to the Sun Rise Bay apartment and condominium complex, where many Stockton University students reside, and walking around to every apartment and car to hang up door hangers that said “Knock Out Opiates” on them. The door hangers also featured many useful and intriguing facts about opiate use and the situation going on in America regarding them.
I found the event to be very useful because I learned so much and hopefully other people, who live in the Sun Rise Bay apartments, will as well. This national problem is an issue that is very important to me and I feel as though the prescription of opiates should be limited made into more of a national priority.

Gillian Ranes
Gen 1033: Life of the Mind
Freshmen Blogging Project: Stockton Events
Event: “How to Maximize Your Buzz” and Get Involved
The event I went to was called “How to Maximize Your Buzz” and Get Involved. It was held on Monday, September 5th in the Campus Center Event Room. This event was a part of the mandatory/ passport event series for all freshmen during welcome week, which was the first week of college.
The objective of the event was to influence positive decision making from academics to social networking. Students were educated in a very interactive and entertaining manner with a program about the powerful and harsh realities of alcohol. The philosophy behind the program was repeated heavily throughout the whole event which was, “Alcohol is not about drinking; it’s about who you are.” The objective of the event was not entirely focused on influencing incoming college students to completely abstain from drinking alcohol, but it provided personal accounts, statistics, and information on a variety of topics including how to stay safe if one makes the decision to drink, the dangers of alcohol, what to do if put in a dire situation involving alcohol, and other ways to have a fruitful college experience without drinking.
I wholeheartedly enjoyed the presentation. I found the information extremely useful and I know I will carry this knowledge throughout my college career as well as after I graduate from Stockton. It was a thought provoking and intriguing presentation that appealed very well to people my age

I did not attend any events for the 2016 presidential election that were hosted by Stockton University. Instead, I watched the debates with my friends in our dorms. Prior to this election cycle, I had never watched a debate. I watched these debates because it was required for class and because I did not want to miss anything Donald Trump might have said. It was interesting to watch the debates with other people my age because for the most part, our political opinions were similar, even though there were some individual differences. We discussed points brought up by the candidates as we watched. Sometimes, it was like we had our own smaller debate if there was a topic we disagreed on. The people I watched the debates with were all Honors students, so we were able to continue the discussion the next day in class. We did the same thing for the election coverage on November 8th. We watched the electoral votes come in and voiced our opinions about what was occurring and about what would need to happen for Clinton to catch up. Even though I did not attend debate parties or other events, I still liked the fact that Stockton hosts these events. Elections only happen every four years and Stockton took advantage of this by hosting election events to get students more involved in American politics. I am sure it would have been interesting to attend a debate party and hear even more opinions on politics. I hope Stockton has similar events for the next election cycle. I might actually consider attending one.

On Saturday, October 8th, I attended the 21st annual Osprey Ball which was held during Stockton’s annual University Weekend. This fun-filled homecoming weekend was packed with activities for families, students and alumni to participate in such as the Osprey Ball and the Street Fair. Students and their guests were invited to wear semi-formal attire to the Osprey Ball which took place in the Campus Center Event Room. Before the ball began, everyone was busy getting ready for the festivities by looking for an outfit to wear, putting on makeup and finding the perfect hairstyle. However, that night it was pouring rain, so guests had to quickly make their way to the Campus Center to avoid ruining their attire.

When students and their guests arrived at the Osprey Ball they were greeted and checked in to the event by staff members. When everyone first walked into the Event Room there was a DJ and a lot of people dancing with their friends on the dance floor to remixes of well-known pop songs among other types of music. There was also a photo booth which was probably one of my favorite parts of the Osprey Ball. The photo booth had a lot of weird hats and masks that you could wear while taking funny pictures with your friends. Most importantly, there was a ton of food at the ball including chicken tenders, pigs in a blanket and of course a giant cake and other desserts. I definitely can say that I did not leave the ball hungry.

Overall, I had a fantastic time at the Osprey Ball this year and I made another great college memory. Although I did not enjoy running through the pouring rain to get to the ball, I did love dancing with my friends and my sister and taking pictures in the photo booth with them. I also had fun eating endless amounts of cake and getting all dressed up for the Osprey Ball. I look forward to attending this University Weekend event next year.

On Friday, November 18th, I attended the Rioult performance to watch the Rioult Dance Company from New York, New York perform a collection of dances for the Stockton community. The event was held in the Stockton Performing Arts Center and the audience eagerly waited for the performance to begin. Even though I was required to attend this event for several of my dance classes, I was excited to see this company dance for the first time. The Rioult Company consists of nine core members and the founder Pascal Rioult, who creates all of the pieces for the company. The choreography of the company is based around the Graham modern dance technique, which focuses on the contraction and release of the spine in movement.

The Rioult performance really surprised me and caught my attention because the company projected images behind the dancers as they performed each piece. The overall theme of the performance was based around nature and the images behind the dancers changed based upon the theme of the dance. I also enjoyed watching the dancers convey the different themes of nature in each piece through the utilization of movement, emotions, costuming, background changes and lighting. The Rioult company did an outstanding job in bringing nature alive and engaging the audience throughout the performance. Overall, I felt as though there was never a dull moment in their dance concert and I would recommend this performance to anyone who is interested in dance or even the arts in general. Hopefully, I will able to see the Rioult Dance Company perform again in the future because I loved watching them dance!

On December 2nd 2016, Stockton Environmental and Sustainable Community hosted an event in solidarity of the situation in Standing Rock, North Dakota. The Dakota Access Pipeline, a part of the Bakken pipeline project, is an underground oil pipeline project in the United States. The pipeline is being planned by Dakota Access, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas, corporation Energy Transfer Partners. It begins in the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota and is set to travel in a straight line through South Dakota and Iowa, and end at the an oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois.  The pipeline was originally routed across the Missouri River near Bismarck; however, this was rejected because of the route’s proximity to waterways and roads in this area. The predominantly white area, fearful of contamination and an oil spill, were successful in moving the pipeline to another location, which would end up being the Sioux Reservation.

As the pipeline began construction, the Sioux Indians were concerned with an oil spill that would contaminate their water, and the location of the pipeline that would be so near to their sacred burial grounds. The Sioux began to peacefully protest the pipeline, facing intense retaliation from law enforcements who used military weapons and gases to disrupt the peaceful protestors. Many protesters were imprisoned for trespassing, including the Sioux who were in their land that had been privatized for capital gain. The event commemorated the struggles of the Sioux and their ongoing challenge for the right to clean water. We began by creating posters with powerful messages for the protest across campus towards the end of the event. Several professors  gave empowering speeches about the injustices committed against Native Americans since America was colonized and how, perhaps, it is too late to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, but if it is the Sioux today, it will be us tomorrow. The event was very empowering and beautifully organized. It was clear that the people who attended were passionate about the issue. Everyone is ready to combat the situation in their own way whether it be donating, protesting, or going to Standing Rock. This event left me feeling ready to take on issues such as this that are a clear violation of people’s rights, and wanting to join Stockton Environmental and Sustainability group.

On October 13^th at 8:30 pm, Stockton had a viewing of Seth Rogan’s new film, Sausage Party. The event was organized by SET, the Student Entertainment Team, and was held in the Campus Center Theater. This event was a really cool way to spend a weekend night with friends. The movie was an hour and a half long, which is was a decent amount of time; it wasn’t too long where people would get fidgety but it was long enough to occupy time that people would have spent being bored otherwise.

Before starting the movie, everyone got their snacks that were provided at the event; It was cool because this event was like going to the movies except it was free. The actual movie, like most products of Seth Rogan, relied on shock factors and innuendo. Sausage Party is an American adult computer-animated comedy so my friends and I knew right off the bad it would be interesting. It was an odd movie that I couldn’t say was bad or good; it was definitely different from any movie I’d seen before.

This movie screening is a regular event here at Stockton and it also appears to be a popular event. They make sure to get recent movies that students are interested in. It’s a great activity for you and your friends if you’re bored on a Friday or Saturday night. I look forward to move nights of films I either missed when they were in theater or that I didn’t feel like spending money on a ticket for.

My third, and favorite thus far, event was the election results viewing party. I had already attended the first and third debate watching parties, and this event really seemed like the culmination of those. The debate parties had refreshments, but the results party had the normal refreshments and beverages with pizza as an added bonus, and a lot of it because the turnout for this event was rather impressive. Much like the debate viewings, the projector was set up with a livestream of the results from CNN. Updates, analysis, and projections from every election came pouring in. I truly will never forget this event. Everyone in that room was watching history. We were watching a new leader be chosen by the American people state by state. Many may find this boring, but I found it positively riveting. It really felt special, like we were watching one of the most significant events of our lifetimes.
This crowd’s political views seemed to be a tad more diverse than the viewing parties had been. The table I was at actually had far more Trump voters than Hillary voters, with a ratio of seven Trump to two Hillary. Because of this, the cheers were less one sided. Each time a state’s result was announced, there was a mix of reactions from the crowd. For some, relief. For others, total terror. Many are quite scared of what a Trump presidency may bring, so as it became increasingly clear that all the polls and predictions were wrong, there was a distinct tension that became apparent in the room. People on both sides were a little more anxious, some excited, but everyone seemed to be aware of the gravity of what they were witnessing. I did not stay for the results as I’m one of the people who are a little nervous about the president-elect, so my roommate and I dejectedly decided to view the rest of the results in our dorm. Be that as it may, it was still an unforgettable event and I still had a great time (for most of it).