On September 26, the freshman of Stockton piled into the Performing Arts Center to hear Mary Roach speak about the freshman common reading, Spook.  Some students came because their seminar required it, others wanted the ULTRA credit, and still others just wanted to be at the event.  Nearly every seat both in the auditorium and orchestra pit were filled with students waiting for the event to begin.

The event started a little after 4:30 with opening remarks from President Herman Saatkamp, Professor G.T. Lenard, and Student Senate President Maribeth Capelli.  Then, it was time for Mary Roach herself to take the stage.

Mary Roach spoke much in the same way that she wrote.  She always had one idea in mind, but she always went off on tangents that in some way related to the main topic she was speaking about.  She spoke mainly about the importance of being curious.  Aside from Spook, she mentioned her books Stiff and Bonk.  At times, she even got a roar of laughter from the audience.

During the question and answer session, Mary Roach kept the ball rolling with quick answers and jests at the audience.  No question was too bizarre for her to answer.  She spoke of everything from her strangest instance with sexual research to her own experience with ghosts.  Her ghost story was a bit of a let down to the audience.  People were expecting a bit more of a gripping story instead of hearing about finding a candy heart on the table, but not everyone can have a gripping ghost story.  Everyone has their own personal experience, exciting or not.

Some people had to leave early due to conflicts in their schedule, but others were able to stay the entire time.  All in all, it was an enjoyable event.

Macie McCallion

Homecoming weekend at Stockton University is a jubilant time for everyone. Families and their Stockton students are reunited and there are plenty of festivities for each person to enjoy. A momentous occasion for the students in particular is the Osprey Ball. This year was the 20^th annual Osprey Ball and we could feel the anticipation of each person attending as the women curled each other’s hair and the men put on their nicest shirts. Groups of friends would meet up before the ball to take pictures to have something to remember these moments by. College is only a short time in our lives and we need to appreciate every minute of it.

Some couples went together as dates and others went with groups of friends; it didn’t matter because everyone was going to have a great time. The ball started at nine and when students walked into the room the first thing they saw was an elegant balloon arch at the opening of the door. Other remarkable amenities of the evening included a photo booth with fun props, delicious dinner, dessert and an amazing DJ. Some of the best moments of the night were when the DJ played songs like the cupid shuffle, the cotton eye Joe, the wobble, the electric slide and more because that’s really when all of the people in the room were up on the dance floor having the time of their lives.

The party went all night long, when the ball was officially over at one in the morning, the individuals who stayed the entire time were sad to leave. My friends and I in particular stayed until the very end. Since the ball was one of the first official Stockton events that freshmen were able to attend, I was happy to be spending it with all of my new friends here at Stockton.

The night was a huge success. Any student who showed up would have had a great time, and all of the ones who did proved it. The students and faculty who worked together to create this event deserve to be commended on their spectacular efforts.

               On September 26^th, Stockton hosted a golf outing at the Seaview Golf Resort. As part of the softball team, I was asked to volunteer for the day. This involved selling raffle tickets, helping golfers on the holes, and being advocates for the college to persuade the attendees into spending more money that will eventually fund various scholarships offered by the school. As a recipient of a Stockton scholarship, I was happy to volunteer and offer my time to such a great cause.

               My day started off eating lunch and selling raffle tickets and other tickets for a Chinese auction. The main purchasers of our tickets were golfers who would later play on one of Seaview’s two top of the line golf courses. After we sold tickets, we were assigned in partners a hole to sit at and assist the golfers with anything they might have needed help with. For my specific hole, the goal was to get the ball as close to the hole as possible on the first stroke. Once the golfer hit his or her ball, we would go out with a tape measure and measure out the distance. When this was determined, we wrote their name on a board for their specific gender. The golfer with the closest stroke of the day would win a prize at the end of the tournament. On one of the courses, golfers had the chance to play against a professional golfer and try to shoot closer to the hole than the pro. It was similar to the rest of the holes but with the added pressure of shooting with a professional.

               Overall, it was a rather successful day for the school. Although I am not sure how much money was raised, I do know that each golfer paid a significant amount of money to play and hundreds of golfers came out. In addition to the entrance fee, each golfer also spent money on various raffle tickets and other fundraisers. It was good for me to see where the money that funds my education comes from. I never really thought about where the money comes from for schools’ scholarships but thanks to the generous people at Seaview that day, thousands of Stockton students, including myself, can afford to go school.

Macie McCallion

SOAR is an exhilarating experience for all incoming freshmen. It stands for the Stockton Outdoor Adventure Retreat. It serves as a way for freshmen to get to know each other and build lasting connections before beginning this new chapter of our lives at Stockton University.

As we moved in on August 25^th 2015, there were so many emotions running through the minds of every parent, family member, and student. We felt fear, excitement, worry, thrill, eagerness and more. After we said goodbye to our parents and headed off to SOAR, all of the worry and fear began to disappear; we started to feel more comfortable around one another. We were split up into tribes. The tribes were orange, navy, pink, yellow, red, green, purple and sky. I was a member of sky tribe (the best tribe out of them all). There were about 30 people per tribe and by the end of SOAR we were all each other’s second family. This aspect of SOAR really makes Stockton truly feel like our home away from home.

The activities that we participated in are really what contributed to all of the bonds that we made. We contemplated several mind games and were elated when we understood when no one else did. We sang, danced, played cards, went kayaking, climbed rock walls and chased some metaphorical lions. On top of all the fun activities, we also participated in some activities that educated us on topics like diversity, acceptance and trust.

SOAR may have only been three short days. However, they were 3 of the best days I have had in a long time. By the end of it we all had bug bites and dirty shoes and sweaty shirts but none of us cared because we had such a great time. Thanks to SOAR I feel so much more comfortable assimilating into this new environment and being the outgoing, confident person that I have always been.

On Thursday September 12, 2013, the Stockton Office of Student Development sponsored its annual event called “Meet the Greeks.” Upon arrival, I waited in a long line that curved out of the doors of Big Blue. The door attendant who swiped my card was excited about how big the turn out was. When I first walked in I was greeted by three rows of decorated tables, each representing one of the Greek organizations. Before attending the event I already had a couple of sororities in mind, so this set-up made it easy to locate each. The representatives for each of the three sororities I visited were extremely friendly and informative. Although I am a freshman and cannot rush until next semester, the representatives handed me flyers and suggested I attend their information sessions to get a head start.

After visiting my interested tables, I took a seat with a couple of my friends to enjoy the Greek introductions. This part of the event was very lively and upbeat. I found myself, amongst others, laughing and smiling throughout the majority of the performances. Many of the Greeks showed videos to give the audience a taste of what their organizations are all about. Most of the sororities performed their chants while most of the fraternities performed dances. It was very enjoyable to see how much fun each group was having; everyone got along so well.

I found attending this event was very helpful. At first I wondered whether Greek life was for me, but now I am excited to join a sorority next semester. This event also helped me narrow down my interests and focus on one sorority I feel is right for me. I learned that Greek life is a great opportunity to meet new friends that will last a lifetime. I highly recommend attending this event for anyone interested in Greek life here on Stockton campus.

Macie McCallion

Recently, I decided to join the American Sign Language Club here at Stockton University.  I had joined multiple other clubs before making the decision to join American Sign Language Club.  I am currently a member of the Marine Science Club, C.L.A.W.S. (Collaborative Leaders Advocating Wellness at Stockton), Ping Pong Club, the Disney Association and now the American Sign Language Club.

I decided to join each of these organizations because I had a genuine interest in all of them.  However, there was more to the reason of why I joined the American Sign Language Club than just having an interest in the subject matter.  This past year, my grandfather developed a benign tumor on the cochlea of his good ear and he is now fully deaf.  I joined the American Sign Language club because I now understand what it’s like to have a communication barrier.  My ultimate goal is to become fluent in Sign Language.  This goal was inspired by my grandfather, but I wish to follow through with it because I think it is a huge asset to be able to speak through sign language.  I hope to inspire others in my family to learn how to use sign language and hopefully I will be able to teach my grandfather as well so it could ease the communication barrier between us.

I hope no one else in my family develops complete hearing loss but if they do I am confident that I will be more prepared. I believe sign language is a beautiful form of communication that should be more widely taught throughout our education systems.

When Hurricane Sandy hit about this time last year, nearly everyone in New Jersey was effected in one way or another. I remember it was just around the time of the USSBA marching band state championships. Many schools dropped out that competition because their schools and the students attending the schools suffered greatly from the storm. The damage covered South to North Jersey. But, the coastal areas suffered the most. I realized the extent of coastal damage when I went to visit Ortley Beach near Toms River in April of this year. More than six months later, the town was still torn to shreds. Houses were collapsed in on each other and debris still littered the streets. Now, almost a year later in Atlantic City, I got to see more damage first hand with the Stockton Day of Service. Our mission in this year’s day of service was to rebuild the dunes along Maine Street in Atlantic City. And, the damage was not pretty. There were empty lots surrounding the washed away dunes where high end houses were previously standing. Where the houses were still standing, the garage doors were covered over with plywood. Townhouses right on the water’s edge were brick shells, and many other bricks littered the sand around them. But what really struck me was the concrete skeleton of the collapsed and missing boardwalk. This area was hit hard.

During the course of our day, forty-some students and I planted 2,000 dune grass plants, cleared the sand of big chunks of debris, and removed sand from the street. This would hopefully rebuild the sand dune ecosystem in that area and help keep sand in place next to the bulkhead lining the shore. This was the first small step to reviving that area. But, the impact was immediate. We were greeted by the security officers working in the resort next to where we were working. They thanked us profusely and said that what we were doing meant so much to them. Hearing those words made everyone appreciate what we were doing so much more. Later in the day, I had the privilege of talking to an AC municipal worker who was assigned to supervise us. He had grown up in Atlantic City and seen it go through many storms. Hurricane Sandy seemed to effect him the most. He told that when the storm hit, the street we were on was flooded six feet high with mattresses and wood floating by. Houses were completely washed out. He said he saw the boardwalk floating by. This man had to watch his home be torn apart. And, here we are nearly a year later trying to sort through the mess. Things like these do not go away overnight, though they may fade from our thoughts when we are not presented with the problem everyday. Doing a small thing like rebuilding a dune really opened my eyes to see the bigger problem, but it also showed me that that small thing can make a big difference to someone living with this problem everyday.

The Stockton 10^th annual Day of Service certainly was an interesting experience for me.  I was a member of the voting registration team; our job was to get people to fill out forms so they could have the right to vote.  We also had the job of getting people in the know about an upcoming election for the New Jersey state Senator.  When our initial location had too few people, we moved to the Atlantic City boardwalk.  I had the job of both monitoring the table we set up, and walking along the boardwalk to ask passers to register.

There were plenty of good things that came out of the experience.  Getting to see Atlantic City for the first time in my life was exiting, and the weather was bearable for the most part.  The best part of the whole trip was the positive responses from some people.  Many people stated that they were already registered, and I knew that they were telling the truth.  Several people stopped to complement our college for what it was doing.  Some people even got into lengthy conversations about different subject matters.  (I, sadly, was not one of these people.)  We also did get several people to register on the spot, and handed out a good couple of forms.  But with the good must also come the bad.

There were plenty people who were downright rude.  These people either brushed us off like we were nothing, said they were already registered but were clearly lying, and even straight up ignored us.  These responses were kind of painful.  I was putting effort into this project and they couldn’t care less!  Even worse than the people who ignored us were the people who gave us looks of anger or disgust as we asked them or as they passed by.  They looked utterly disgusted at what we were doing, it was pretty uncomfortable.   The other major problem with our day was in organization; or lack thereof.   The voter registration group not only had to relocate, but it took us at least half an hour before we finally got a table, and we never got any chairs.  These problems made looking serious quite difficult.

The main thing I take away from the day of service is a lesson in tolerance.  I now know not to be rude or brash to people who are trying to advertise or sell stuff from stands like the one we were in.  People honestly put effort into these things, and I think it’s disrespectful to ignore them.  I think that the Day of Service could’ve gone better for my group, but I still view it as a success and a positive experience overall.