Lily Davis

Blog Post 3

Bay Atlantic Symphony Concert

On Friday, November 11, 2016 I went to go see the Bay-Atlantic Symphony’s “Veterans Day Salute” concert.  Originally, I went to the concert because I was required to for a class I was taking, but I ended up really enjoying it.  The concert was in the Performing Arts Center, and there were so many people there, they filled up practically all of the seats.  The Bay Atlantic Symphony, which is an orchestra that  anyone in South Jersey can join, comprises of violins, violas, cellos, bass, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, french horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, percussion, and the harp.

At this specific concert, the orchestra played a selection of songs that all have resonating themes of American spirit.  These songs include “Armed Forces: the Pride of America,” “1812 Overture,” and many selection of pieces  from Leroy  Anderson.  During the “Armed Forces: the Pride of America” piece, the orchestra would play each branch of the military’s song, and the people who served in that branch would stand up. It was such an amazing experience, to see just how many people have served in the military.  It was also very emotional, because there were just so many people who have sacrificed so much for our country.  

Personally, this was my second Bay-Atlantic Symphony concert that  I have gone to this year.  The first one was a very formal concert, which I enjoyed a great deal.  But this concert I appreciated so much more because it was such an emotional experience.  At the end of this concert, the orchestra played a surprise song.  It was the National Anthem.  Just after the first few notes, the entire Performing Arts Center was on its feet, singing along.  It was truly such a beautiful and emotional experience.  

On November 17th I tabled for the Run Rudolph Run event hosted by the Stockton Honors Board. This event consisted of a five kilometer run for those daring enough to accept this fairly difficult but manageable run. The entry fee for this event was $20 per participant and encouraged racers to dress in seasonal apparel such as antler hats and elf hats. For those who don’t have seasonal apparel on hand they would be sold at the event as well.  This whole event took place at Stockton University on our very own scenic pineland trails, the perfect location for any event! All proceed from this event went towards less fortunate local families who don’t have the money to buy their children presents for the holiday season.

This run was not only a fun way to get out and be active with friends, but also a great way to help our local community as well. At the reasonable cost of only $20 people could enjoy a fun afternoon in good company at the most picturesque part of a great campus. For those who could not partake in the event for various reasons donations were accepted as well as every little bit helps make another individual’s holiday season brighter. While tabling for this event most of our donations came in the form of good-hearted Stockton students and faculty giving a dollar or two to a good cause. All the proceeds from this event went toward various toys and gifts that were later donated to the Stockton Police Department’s Toys for Tots program. While this is only the first year of this annual run we hope to see it gain momentum each year as volunteers such as myself help think of new ways to make this event more fun and exciting then the previous year.

On November 14, about 15-20 classmates in the Honors freshman seminar joined President Harvey Kesselman and his wife for dinner at the N-Wing Cafeteria.  Since we were all uncomfortable at first, nobody said anything until President Kesselman broke the ice with a joke about how quiet we all are.  He introduced himself and made all of us introduce ourselves and give a general background about ourselves.  Although the instructions were quite clear, it was hilarious how many people couldn’t remember what to say for their background.  Everyone made fools of themselves and made this meeting much less formal than it started off as.  We had many discussion sessions relating to the recently concluded election.  He asked the general audience questions such as; why do you think Trump won, are you surprised with this outcome, and what are your feelings toward the outcome?  Thankfully everyone who shared their input stayed tranquil, especially because it is such a heated topic.  President Kesselman seemed to be very impressed with the knowledge and thoughts the students shared with him.  After we got off the topic of politics he shared with us information about the expansion and construction of Stockton University.  He compared modern day Stockton to the school that he was a part of its first year as a college.  It was outstanding how much this school has grown and how much change could occur in such a small time.  At the end of the dinner as we were wrapping up Kesselman asked the students for ideas and thoughts that he could help implement or aid the students with.  This experience was a great opportunity to get close to such important people and be introduced to a more formal scene.

I have been able to become a little more involved in campus activities as the semester continues and I have not been disappointed.  One event that really stood out to me was the Afternoon of Service hosted by Stockton’s Commuters On the Go club.  This club was created to help commuters become more connected to the campus and become more involved so they do not miss out on any college experiences as someone who does not live on campus.  The event was held on October 13 from 4:30 to 6 and happens annually.

 I first went to this event to fulfill one of my honors program requirements and was really surprised at how much fun it was.  In the Board of Trustees room in the main campus center, there were three tables set up with different things to do.  The table that I sat at was set up with patterned cloths and stuffed animal stuffing.  At that table, our task was to make teddy bears that will be given to cancer patients at the hospital.  A different table had colored paper and markers to make cards for homeless people.  The last table was set up to make heart shaped baskets for people living in nursing homes.  

At the end of the event, we also had a reflection session.  This is where the impact really kicked in.  Zeal Kamdar, the student that was running the event explained to us who these crafts were for and she was able to connect them all with one single aspect.  She explained to us that all of these people were connected because their misfortunes were not chosen by them.  It is easy to understand why cancer patients were not able to choose their misfortune, but most people will assume and not realize that homeless people and people living in nursing homes did not choose that living arrangement.  The majority of homeless people are homeless because they are unable to earn enough money to buy a house.  Even when they do have a job, a home is too much money for them to buy.  They were not able to have a choice between living in a home and being homeless.  People in nursing homes are usually admitted by their family, regardless of if they want to be or not.  Although being put in a home against their wishes is unfortunate, that is not where their misfortune lies.  A lot of nursing homes mistreat their residents, resulting in the residents being physically abused, not having their needs met, and having their well being ignored.  This is very important because not many people know how dangerous nursing homes can be to their loved ones.  

Overall, I had an amazing time at this event and was very surprised at the information I learned.  I will definitely think back to what I have learned the next time I walk past a homeless person or a nursing home.

The event I attended was part of a speaker series hosted by the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Stockton. It was a special talk called “Drag Queens and Beauty Queens: Gender, Performance, and Marked Bodies”, and it was held on November 17th. The talk dealt with the ins and out of frag, the feminist critique of drag, gender performance, why people become drag queens, and drag performances. The speaker, Doctor Laurie Greene, had already formed opinions on drag culture based on feminist critiques she had studied. She decided to go out into the field and do her own research on drag, and what she had learned surprised her. She spoke to many local drag queens and attended both drag pageants and classic beauty pageants to better understand feminine gender performance. She shared her findings with the people in attendance and explained that the next part of her research would focus on drag kings and masculine gender performance.

  This talk was absolutely fascinating. Drag is still seen as a bizarre and somewhat immoral practice by many people. While there are people like RuPaul who have been bringing drag into the public conscious, there is a lot that people do not know about it. It was very interesting to see drag compared to beauty pageants as extreme performances of femininity. It was also interesting to learn about drag through the the viewpoints of both skeptical feminists and actual drag queens. The talk was very professional and informative. Doctor Greene clearly did her research and I would be happy to attend another talk lead by her after she completes her research on drag kings.

On November 28^th, I attended an event for Water Watch club.  The primary purpose of Water Watch is to strive for environmental conservation through public outreach. This club works alongside students at colleges and universities across the United States to promote tap water over bottled water on their campuses.  This project is currently known as Take Back the Tap. Areas known as, “Hydration stations,” are appearing increasingly more around campuses. Hydration stations act to highlight tap water refilling areas positioned around campus so instead of purchasing bottled water, students can instead refill their water bottles with tap water.

More than $100 billion dollars are spent every year on bottled water globally. Bottled water is a drain on the environment as the US public goes through about 50 billion water bottles a year and most of the plastic containers are not recycled.  Transporting the bottles also gives off greenhouse gasses that hinder the environment.

At this event, four types of water were placed out in clear containers so that the participants would not be able to tell the difference between brands of water. The four types of water that were placed out on the table included the following: Deer Park, Poland Spring, Fiji, and tap water.  We poured each of the unidentified waters into paper cups and were asked to differentiate between brand.  Only one member of the club could differentiate between each of the four brands whether it was out of sheer luck or not. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether or not one is able to taste the difference between tap water and bottled water. This was to prove that there is no obvious incongruity between tap water and any common brand water. This test acted to promote the consumption of tap water benefit the environment.  

To show appreciation to all the members that came out to support the event, three groups including Water Watch, ASA, and Commuters on the Go got together for a semi-formal dinner the day after.

On October 13th I attended Commuter on the Go Afternoon of Service with a group of friends from the honors program. This event was held in the board of trustees’ room giving ample space for anyone who chose to join. Each table had a designated craft to benefit our local community. Whether we were making birthday cards for parents who couldn’t afford to buy them for their children or dog toys for dogs in shelters with all the money available already poured into their living conditions each table had a heartwarming purpose driving them. As the holidays are rapidly approaching these gifts could be the only ones that the less fortunate receive making it all the more relevant as the holiday season is meant to be enjoyed by everyone. After the crafts had concluded the result of our work was truly incredible, tables full of gifts that would brighten up what could have very easily been a bleak time of year.

As we cleaned up our workstations we transitions into a very serious and relevant conversation. At first we jotted down three important aspects of our life and were asked to exchange our answers with someone else in the room. After this we were forced to discard one of the three items someone else had chosen and return them. This represented the loss that we all face in life and how it can affect everyone differently. This personally opened my eyes on how easy it is to lose something as dear to me as a close friend and made me appreciate what I have and all that has happened to me up to the point that I am at in my life. This event was made not only to reflect and make holiday gifts but to teach us how far a little compassion can take someone.

I participated at the Commuters on the Go Afternoon of Service on October 13^th, 2016.  Commuters on the Go sponsored the event in the Board of Trustees’ room with a great turnout of honors and non-honors students.  The environment was warm and friendly as we all sat at round tables and were instructed on different crafts by my honors mentor, Zeal Kamdar.  In my group we were instructed to make birthday cards to give out to less fortunate people who couldn’t afford cards for loved ones.  Other tables made stuffed animals to handout to others in similar situations as well.  While this was only a one-time event, the event felt like it will make a difference when the time comes for the items to be given out to the people they were made for.

After the event, we participated in a reflection session where tones became much more serious.  We discussed the effects that reaching out to disenfranchised populations can have.  The situation is often more serious than it seems and is less the fault of the people who are in those situations, but the situations they were thrown into.  One example that hit particularly hard and really drove home the point that my group and myself discussed after was the example of a veteran who returns home from war with either mental or physical trauma, or perhaps both.  Too often these brave individuals lack resources to get them back on their feet.  Sometimes they come back with hardly any money to afford a place to live, food, and clothes.  Perhaps a person in this position might have trouble getting a job too, making it even harder for them to become a normal civilian with all necessities taken care of.  However, if we could improve situations like this that someone might be in, why wouldn’t we?  That is what this outreach event was all about, the underlying ways in which even a little empathy and compassion will go a long way in order to help those in need.  I really enjoyed the event and look forward to participating in more of the same or similar events to make a difference in the community around me.

Recently I attended a Presidential Debate on Monday, September 26^th.  The event was held in the Board of Trustees’ meeting room and was packed with what seemed to be well over 100 students.  Since as how this is one of the most polarizing and controversial elections in US history, I was not surprised to find out that roughly 84 million people had tuned in to watch it.  This number was just on television alone, not counting all the live streams on social media platforms, and other services like YouTube or similar websites.  In addition to just watching the debate, the organization provided a large screen with a real time feed of popular tweets that were related to the debate from regular people and celebrities and other famous people as well.  In addition, they provided refreshments and played “Debate Bingo”, using many key words as board spaces.  Overall the event was well put together and smoothly functioning for all who were in attendance.  I highly look forward to returning to the future debates being held on the live screenings.

The debate started off fittingly, with Clinton telling Trump how “nice” it was to be there on the same stage with him.  The debate continued on just as all the campaigns have to this point, with plenty of untrue statements, mudslinging insults, and heated arguments.  It’s quite interesting to see two people with similar goals and objectives, who seemingly have so much hatred for each other.  Nonetheless, both Trump and Clinton proceeded to push their ideas while still trying to answer some of the question asked by the moderator Lester Holt.  Overall, looking back makes me question the stability of our future with leaders so unpredictable, scandalous, and controversial as these two.  The next four years will certainly be quite interesting (and possibly terrifying) to watch unfold. For this event itself, all that can be said is that the debate hosted in the Board of Trustees’ room went much smoother than the debate itself, unsurprisingly

Despite my lack of attendance of Stockton events, I was lucky enough to participate in Lolla-No-Booza! This event was hosted by R.I.S.E. A.B.O.V.E. which stands for Ready to Inspire Students to Excel And Better Our Various Experiences. This organization plans to inform students of the misconceptions they may plague the idea of sober colleges through interactive games and activities. This event took place on the 27^th of October in the Event Room in the Campus Center. This was a Halloween dance unlike another other, a silent disco. Aside from dancing zombies, witches, and the occasional t-rex, onlooking this silent disco may seem extremely awkward as people are dancing without music. However, as you continue to scan the room, you notice that everyone is wearing headphones that control the dancer’s movement. With two music stations to choose from, each person can flip through their preference of rap or edm with house and dubstep in between.

Around the campus center were tables with various activities and games to educate us on facts about drinking. Undergoing DUI simulation tests, we were challenged to say the alphabet backwards or forwards, walk a few meters in a straight line, or have the coordination to touch your nose with an extended arm. As a contrary reward for the careful evasion from the cops, we were given a ticket for the huge raffle holding a bountiful amount of prizes like Halloween props to flat screen tvs! The food variety may have been a bit lacking, but the catering from Buffalo Wild Wings alleviated the pain. Overall, the Lolla-No-Booza was a fantastic event that I will attend next year!