I was skeptical upon seeing students with bright orange Nerf guns, balled up socks, and neon green bands around their arms and heads running around chasing each other on Honors Scholars Day in the spring before I moved into Stockton. The whole notion of college students playing such a game as something called Humans Vs. Zombies (or HVZ, as it’s affectionately called) kind of surprised me. College, to me, was supposed to be a serious, pedantic place where you were not allowed to have time for seemingly childish activities. After moving into Stockton and making friends that were ecstatic to participate in this event, lasting from October 13-18, 2013, however, resulted in me apprehensively joining in and completely changing my opinion, while having tons of fun in the process.

An essential part of HVZ is the Nerf gun, as it is a human’s only defense, save for balled up socks, against being tagged by a zombie, which turns you into a zombie yourself. Shooting a dart or throwing a sock at a zombie stuns them for ten minutes, allowing you ample time to run away and stay human. Soon after signing up, I went to buy myself my very own gun and dig for old socks and the bottom of my drawer. Then strapping on the green band around my arm the next day, I was officially ready for HVZ to begin.

Besides the constant paranoia of having to watch out for my headband wearing classmates lurking around outside (as weare not allowed to be tagged inside), most of my first day of HVZ was successful as a human. It wasn’t until later at the nightly mission that my back was turned and I was tagged by a zombie. I somewhat begrudgingly gave up my status as a human and joined the zombie ranks.

Being a zombie was even more fun than being a human, as I discovered throughout the week. I got to chase humans and scare them merely by walking by. Later that week, I even found myself hiding in bushes in anticipation of humans walking by. There was also a higher sense of comradery amongst the zombies. Humans tended to have the mentality of “better you than me”. Being a zombie, on the other hand, means watching your fellow zombies’ backs and helping each other obtain tags by turning more humans into zombies. I even got my own tag when I was walking out of the Unified Science Center and noticed a human with her back turned to me.

HVZ was ultimately an extremely amusing experience for me that resulted in many new friends. The unexpected teamwork and comradery involved helped improved how I work with others and banded the Stockton community together. I also realized that college does not always mean leaving behind childish ways, but embracing them with a new outlook. It is something distinctive that sets Stockton apart from many other colleges in the country. Not everyone gets to spend a week at college playing with Nerf guns and hunting and chasing fellow classmates while still attending class, as I like brag to my friends back home.

Saturday, October 10th, 2015, was the third day of Stockton University’s University Weekend. The day was a cool 64 degrees and the campus was abuzz with excitement for the evening’s main event, the Osprey Ball. The morning was started off with the Stockton Parent & Family Association breakfast in the campus center event center. Breakfast was followed shortly by the men’s alumni soccer game.

But the excitement didn’t stop there. After a good game of soccer, the parade began. Different student organizations had the opportunity to design golf carts to represent each of their groups. Groups such as Stockapella and the Disney Association had floats in the parade which were designed throughout the week by members of each organization. The parade flowed through the crowds of students, faculty, alumni, and families who came out to show support this university weekend.

After a plethora of sporting events and a carnival in the parking lot of Big Blue, the night was topped off with the 2015 Osprey Ball. Everyone in attendance was dressed to the nines in their best clothes and arrived with all of their friends in the Campus Center Event Room at 9 P.M. The DJ kept a steady stream of moderns hits such as Fetty Wap and classics like Respect by Aretha Franklin. The dance floor was packed as students Hit the Whip, Hit the Quan, and did the Cotton Eyed Joe. As the night moved on students were able to take photos in a photo booth and enjoy a large spread of desserts and sodas.

Overall the Osprey Ball just may have been the highlight of University Weekend. It was an awesome way to get everyone together to have a good time. This year’s University Weekend was clearly a massive success and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for us next year.

For my first official weekend here at Stockton College, I chose to participate in the tenth Annual Day of Service. The day offered ample opportunity to research clubs, volunteer for good causes and meet a variety of new people. Eager to find the right club to participate in, I quickly ate my bagel and proceeded to find the best fit club to enjoy a fun-filled day of service. My friend and I chose to work with Circle K, a club dedicated to providing service for children, elders, animals and the homeless. The tasks for the day were to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless shelter, sew teddy bears and blankets as well as make cards for the children in the hospital, and braid homemade dog toys for the animal shelter.

I spent a majority of my time making cards for terminally ill children. I was supplied with information of specific children with illnesses such as cancer. I found it slightly difficult coming up with what to say in the cards. For one boy’s card, I wrote “Thanks for being Awesome” with the word “awesome” written in 3-D with paper. I tried my best to personalize their cards with their names as well as their interests. At one point, I was running out of ideas: I drew a picture of a cat on the front of the card with the message “Here’s a kitten to brighten your day” inside of it. Although a card is a small, insignificant gesture in the grand scheme of things, it could potentially mean the world to a parent or the child (even if it is only for a moment). Overall, the experience was fun as well as helpful for others. Ever since I came to Stockton, my world has expanded immensely. Instead of simply completing a service project, the experience has opened my eyes to certain possibilities in terms of future volunteer work and even careers.

On the morning of September 19th I was lucky enough to be involved in Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s roadside cleanup. SAE is a fraternity that is recognized on the Stockton campus as the Rho Sigma chapter, since 2012. Their philosophy is the Children’s Miracle Network and they pride themselves as being “true gentlemen”.  Since SAE is the fraternity that I would like to be a part of second semester I decided that going to this rush event would be very beneficial to me, especially since it was community service based. A rush event is an event held by a fraternity (or a sorority) and is used as a way for current brothers and sisters to get to know future members.

The morning of the event was beautiful. The sun was shining and it could not have been a better day to go make the community better. We met together at the Dunkin Donuts in the Campus Center. This is where they explained to us the basis of what will be going on that day. They told us how it will be a good time and how beneficial of an experience it will be. They got me all ready to help out the community. The brothers and other potential rushes like myself were able to bond over picking up trash on the side of the road. Each of us were given a job, my first job was to hold the garbage bag to make picking up trash easier for someone else. Later we switched jobs and we were able to have fun out of the whole thing. At the end of the day though, most importantly, the streets were now a lot cleaner thanks to the brothers of SAE.

Just as students are beginning to feel a little homesick, Stockton’s family weekend comes! Not only does this four-day event take care of homesickness; it provides endless activities for students to reunite with their families in the most enjoyable way possible.

“Stocktonopoly” begins the Thursday night before homecoming weekend by showing “Monsters University” in the campus center, just in case any young children and their parents decide to visit a little early. Then, a parade goes through the campus, allowing the various clubs here at Stockton to recruit more members and impress the judges. Then, a bonfire and the S.E.T. comedy show end the night with lots of fun and laughs. To start the next day, parents were welcome to enjoy a brunch with their Stockton student.

The fun goes on from here. With a carnival taking place in the parking lot of “Big Blue,” the commotion increases as the day goes on. A twisting ladder game, trampoline, and blow-up obstacle course are sure to take up the day in the sun. Students find that after being active for so long, the water balloons cool things off a little, and then it’s time for some basketball and getting to know different clubs at Stockton. For my family, the blow-up games and obstacle courses were a perfect fit for five cousins under the age of ten. After we squeezed a total of fifteen people into the dorm room to see the pictures on the wall, my cousins couldn’t wait to see what the carnival was all about! This provided a way to reunite with them in a unique way.

Finally the Osprey Ball comes, where students hang out and dance the night away with friends. Homecoming weekend concludes with an Alumni Walk and baseball games on Sunday, which prove to be a perfect way to close a hectic weekend. All in all, Stocktonopoly definitely succeeded in providing fun activities for students and their families to enjoy together.

Excitement was in the air on a chilly Friday afternoon as the students and their parents come together at Stockton for the start of University Weekend. The weekend began with a pep rally in “Big Blue”, the school’s main gymnasium. During the event, I had the pleasure of performing with the All Starz Dance Team. The hustle and bustle backstage before the ceremonies began was both fun and hectic. Everyone took their seats as the enthusiastic announcer told his audience about everything they should expect this weekend. Several clubs performed, including the Cheerleaders, All Starz Dancers, and Stockton’s Stocktones. At the end, everyone received a complimentary tee shirt to wear.

Early next morning, different clubs and teams around Stockton gathered to parade decorated golf carts around campus. I walked the parade with the All Starz dancers, with our cart decorated in different colors, celebrating Stockton throughout the years. We placed signs on the cart with the various names Stockton University had and the years they held these names. The parade was cold and windy, but fun nonetheless. People cheered and admired every group’s cart. At the end, each cart was presented to a panel of judges who selected the best decorated cart. The judges loved our cart and at the end of the parade, we won second place in the contest. The whole team felt excited and proud of our hard work.

The parade was only the kickoff event for Saturday morning. From twelve o’clock to four o’clock, there was a grand carnival in one of the school’s parking lots. People set up tables with games, food, and there were inflatable obstacle courses for those who liked to be adventurous. Loud music and laughter filled the air. It was impossible to find anyone with a frown on their face at the carnival. Once the excitement settled down, students said farewell to their parents and started to prepare for the 20^th Annual Osprey Ball. The ball was the final hurrah for students, and kept going until one o’clock in the morning. There was loud music, a photo booth, buffet food, cake, and thrilled guests. People dressed to impress and danced the night away. It was an event to remember, and my personal favorite of the entire weekend. As a whole, University Weekend was fun for all, and students are excited to see what it will hold next year.

Recently I auditioned for Walter Wyke’s play, The Profession, directed by Dan Cerullo. Going on my first audition here at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey was something that got my adrenaline pumping. Performing is my true passion and finding an outlet for it here on campus was of paramount importance to me. The show’s cast called for three actors total, with one female lead. Talk about intimidating. I had never auditioned for something so exclusive. In reality, I just wanted to get my name out there and associated with the theater program. I wasn’t expecting to receive a part, but I wanted to dip my toes in the water of college theater.

I auditioned with a dry reading of a monologue that Dan, the director, had provided me. Having never seen the monologue before I was very nervous, but I connected to it and felt as though I could really portray the character well. It was an exhilarating feeling to deliver the monologue in the Experimental Theater for two reasons. The first was that I had never had an opportunity to perform in black box before. The second was because I was making the director and stage manager laugh. Nothing is more encouraging to an actor than an engaged audience that responds to his/her humor.

It was so rewarding when my name was on the callback list. My first college audition yielded my first college callback! I had never thought that my audition would do anything more than connect me with more students involved in theater. Having a callback was an extremely heartening experience. In the end, although I was not cast in the show, I had accomplished two items on my college bucket list: (1) audition for a show and (2) get a callback. I hadn’t expecting to achieve either of these things in my first semester, let alone in the same day!

Having had such a great experience with my audition, I could not wait to see the show go up and support the cast. I signed up to usher for the Saturday night performance, excited to get to help out with the show in some small way. The show itself was unlike anything I had ever had the opportunity to work with before. The Profession is an absurdist piece, which means that just when the audience is grasping the plot of the play, something crazy happens that challenges everything that they believe and forces them to question what it all really means. In the same way that a dystopia novel causes the reader to question how the commentary applies to his/her every day life, absurdist pieces of theater provoke the same types of questions. The genre was something I had never experienced before but I have always loved dystopia novels; I was so excited for the show to begin.

The show followed the character Eugene, portrayed by my friend Jeremy Rotolo, who was learning the trade of The Profession along with another student Rosetta, played by Taylor Cawley. Both characters were being taught the profession by an ominous looking teacher, Schaefer played by Ryan Gorman, who appeared to tower over his students. The content covered in their course seemed extreme to Eugene and he often objected to the lessons, questioning their necessity and by extension his purpose. Throughout the show, Eugene’s questions reflected the questions of the audience. As the drama escalated to a climactic point, the questions that bounced around in my head were abundant. I left the theater with more questions than answers as there wasn’t a real resolution. At first, I wasn’t satisfied; the show was lacking a conventional dénouement. Upon reflection I realized that having so many questions in the end was what made The Profession a success. Good theater is theater that leaves makes the audience think, and almost a week later I am still thinking about The Profession.

On Friday, November 6th, 2015 Stockton held their third annual Sleep-Out.  This event was sponsored by Covenant House, an organization in Atlantic City dedicated to providing food and shelter to the homeless youths who come to their doors.  By youths, I do not mean just children; people my age stay there as well.

I originally learned about this event from a representative from the Covenant House during Day of Service. My roommate constantly reminded me that she was going throughout the week.  I decided on the night of the event to sign up and go with her (I do not recommend that anyone wait that long if they can help it).  To sign up, I had to search for “Stockton Sleep-Out” on Facebook.  After scrolling through the related posts, I eventually found a link to the official website for the event.  From there I signed up for the event and set up a sponsor page so that my friends on Facebook could donate funds towards our goal.  Certain set amounts of money paid for clothes, food, heating, etc. for those living at Covenant House.

The event itself took place at the Lakeside Lodge near upperclassmen housing.  There we signed an attendance form and waited to be divided into tribes.  I was not placed in a tribe with any of my housemates, but it was easy to make friends with the people in my tribe.

The first challenge we went through was a “box hunt”, where we would search the upperclassmen housing area for cardboard boxes.  The tribe who collected the most boxes won.  We could only carry one box per person and there were not enough for everyone.  We would have to sleep on them later once the activities were through. Realistically, a person who is homeless does not always find a safe, comfortable place to sleep at night, so I feel like this is a parallel.

The second challenge was comprised of six little contests: an egg toss, three-legged race, a hula hooping contest, a scavenger hunt where the supervisors kept removing chairs as it progressed, undoing a human knot, and a crab-walking contest.  Not everybody got to participate in everything; each event only needed four to eight people.  I don’t know if I can draw any parallels between the games and homelessness.  Mostly, they were for our entertainment and to keep us awake.  I suppose that if I think about it, both involve limited resources and difficulty adjusting, but that is a very weak simile and I am not committed to it.

Probably the most important part of this event was the presentations brought to us by both the Covenant House and by the supervising staff. Before this event, I’d associated being homeless with being completely broke and having no place to stay at all. Then one man introduced me to the concept of “couch hopping”; his mother had been sick and it was difficult to pay her medical bills and eventually I think they lost the house. He would end up staying with different friends and constantly switching between. Another woman’s house had burnt down and her family had to stay at a hotel until they could either afford a new house or repairs to the old one. Though these people had a place to stay, both went a significant amount of time without a home.

I feel really bad now for having taken my home for granted. The Covenant House is still raising funds on their website, so people can still visit and donate money. As I said above, this money will go towards food and resources for the youths of Covenant House. I sincerely hope that too many more people will not have to go through such hardships in the years to come.