The event that was held on September 19, 2017 was Constitution Day. Here, a man named Julian Zelizer, a historian featured on shows and in articles from sources such as CNN, talked to us about history of US presidents, the constitution, and what this all means for today’s generation. He talked to the audience about Donald Trump, his supporters, his rejecters, as well as his use of Twitter and things he posts to here. He also made reference of Donald Trump to relating former presidents like Richard Nixon (who left office before impeached.) Julian Zelizer also discussed how Donald Trump has a loaded House of Representatives of Republicans. This can be unfair for a bias of Republican beliefs are set in place because they support Trump. However, Zelizer said, just because there is a bias, he can still be removed from office. What Zelizer discussed related to points in the book Trust Me I’m Lying. Trump utilizes media manipulation. His tweets often stir anger, hence getting his word out there and have it be spread as Ryan Holiday suggests. Another topic that Trump rejecters believe is that Trump is leading us to bad things. Zelizer also touched on this. Some see it negative that since he became president, he has tried to rid of healthcare and create barriers whether for the good or for the bad. Many believe America should be about building bridges not walls. Also since his rise to power, war with North Korea is closer than ever before. Testing nuclear missiles to reach America has become a common practice of North Korea, and Trump has already threatened, if North Korea does not stop practicing these techniques, he will match them with “”They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen”. Many see this as a scary thought. As Einstein once said, “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Whether it’s Trump, who is a possibility, or Kim Jong Un, who fires the first nuclear missile, the world will be demolished. Because of NATO and other such treaties, once one nuclear bomb goes off, everyone starts firing their nukes at everyone else until the world is destroyed. If one has seen the movie, “War Games”, you will know what this issue expressed. Trump also remarked that there are no peaceful agreements between us and North Korea. There is only physical war left as an option, while Trump’s advisers say there is always a diplomatic solution. Trump rejecters do not favor the lack of agreement in the White House. Julian Zelizer however provides some relief to this topic for those who do not support Trump, and those questioning their beliefs. If Trump gets out of hand, we can take care of it and relieve him of his duties. Also, many bills and more can’t just be passed by the president alone. They can also be protested, so Trump isn’t 100% in power of the United States. This is why we love the Constitution! What the whole speech relates to. The Constitution helps regulate people of power for the betterment of the people. Whether you love or hate Trump, he is regulated thanks to our Founding Fathers. So no matter the case, whether through Trump’s beliefs alone or group agreement, the best will happen for this great Country!

On Tuesday, September 15^th, 2017, Stockton students, staff, faculty, and alumni packed into the Campus Center event room to hear Julian Zelizer speech for the annual Constitution Day keynote address. Zelizer is a CNN political analyst and has written many books and op-ed columns, as well as appearing on television and radio shows. According to his biography on the Princeton University website, Zelizer is a pioneer in the resurgence of the discipline of American political history. Zelizer’s topic for his speech was “Constitution Democracy in the Age of Donald Trump”. Each audience member was given a pocket constitution for reference, as well as a notecard to write down questions for Mr. Zelizer. As Zelizer began his speech, the audience expected him to speak about the current happenings in our country, and possibly make predictions for the future. However, Zelizer chose to give his speech from a historical perspective, and instead mainly spoke about the past. Specifically, Zelizer compared Donald Trump’s presidency to that of his predecessors. Because of some of Trump’s outlandish claims, some Republicans have reason not to stand with him. Zelizer, the historian, compared Trump to Lynden B. Johnson, who gave strong political and war talk to not seem weak on the matter of national security. Similarly, Trump has made controversial tweets about war and foreign policy on social media, specifically threats to destroy North Korea, all in the name of not appearing weak. In his speech, Zelizer noted that Trump is only as strong as the Republicans in Congress who stand by him and pass legislation for him, and although they have been supportive so far, some of Trump’s claims have tested the Congress’s loyalty. According to Zelizer, the Republican party does not want another scandal like the Watergate Scandal in 1973, and Trump’s tweets and other claims could cause some to falter from their party loyalty. Overall, Zelizer seemed hopeful about the outcome of Trump’s presidency. He mentioned that although Trump has been quite aggressive with his executive orders and his words, his legislation is not as aggressive because his Republican Congress is wary of blindly voting for the party and trusting the president, so Trump is vulnerable. Overall, the takeaway from Zelizer’s keynote address seemed to be that the Trump presidency is not as bad as the media make it seem, which nicely tied into the freshman common reading, Trust Me I’m Lying. The media sensationalizes Donald Trump’s tweets and his words, when what is truly important and powerful is the legislation he passes. Zelizer argued that Trump seemed to be just about average in terms of the amount of legislation he has passed so far in his presidency; he has not signed a significant amount more bills into law than other presidents during the same time frame. Zelizer’s address left the audience with the impression that some of the drama surrounding Trump’s presidency is just media speculation, because bloggers will do anything to generate revenue. However, even when Trump is making eccentric claims on Twitter or in a speech, it is up to the people to remember that his words don’t count; we must look at what the president signs into law. With his actions, Trump’s Congress is hesitant to support him, and the future lies uncertain.

Within the first week of classes, there were signs and posters hanging informing students of the Get Involved Fair. It was talked highly about by different professors and students encouraging freshmen to get involved in their new community. I took their advice and planned to go.

Immediately, I thought it was great that it was two days long. My class schedule stopped me from going by and checking out the different tables on the first day. When I went to look at the tables, I walked in the center and glanced to the left and right for things that peaked my interest. One of the first things that came to my mind was that all the tables looked like students in a science fair trying to prove their experiment was worthy of something. It was funny to me that for some tables, this was true; they were trying to prove their club was worthy enough for people to sign up. The people who are already in the club or organization were prominent because they just stood around most of the tables. Some tables had extremely nice signs and were trying to recruit members, while others just sat back and watched.

The purpose in going to the Get Involved Fair is to kind of find a place here at Stockton University. I didn’t go up to a table with a club that I wasn’t interested in because there was no point in doing that. There were a few clubs that had caught my eye as I walked in between the tables. When I went up to the clubs table I wanted to join, there were a few things I looked for: personality of the individuals, what their club stood for, and the type of activities they participate in. I went into the Get Involved Fair looking for something that would help me branch out. So far, attending the Get Involved Fair has proven to be successful in finding my place at Stockton University. Females, one of the clubs I signed up for, has already had a meeting and it is a great place for me.

On September 19^th and 20^th, the halls of A through I wing were packed with student clubs and organizations of Stockton University. The Get Involved Fair was hosted by hundreds of representatives of different groups that were spreading the word about their ideas, projects, services, and more. The organizations participating in the Get Involved Fair were clubs based on hobbies, specific majors, culture and ethnicity, intramurals, fraternities and sororities, art and dance, and more. Since I am already a part of the men’s soccer team here at Stockton, I do not have such an open schedule like most of the students who participated in attending the fair; however, I loved the welcoming vibe and atmosphere that the Get Involved Fair brought to the community of Stockton.

As I walked back from my 8:30 a.m. Aging and Health class in F-wing, I noticed something peculiar about each wing I passed through: I saw tables all over the main floor of the hallways, demonstrating to me that there may be an event going on later in the day (this week I didn’t check the Student Digest that Stockton emails to residents every Monday and Thursday, so I was understandably confused). When I tried to muscle my way through each wing at 11:15 a.m to arrive to my 11:20 a.m. Freshman Seminar on time, it became clear that it was the week of the Get Involved Fair. The crowds of people flocked table to table to discover more information about campus life and how to get involved at Stockton. When I returned to the Get Involved Fair after my seminar, I perused each wing to see what I considered interesting. Although there were many groups I wouldn’t join, I found that members of groups that were avid about their organization, whether fraternities or fishing, seriously intrigued me. I found myself examining what I am passionate about because at this Get Involved Fair, I am was given the absolute freedom to be a part of anything that I want. It was a freeing experience to see the energy of Stockton become so positive to new students who want to find a future with an organization. On the contrary, there were some groups who showed no enthusiasm at all, but I enjoyed seeing the real passions of group leaders sharing their love with visitors at their respective tables.

I am committed to the collegiate men’s soccer team at Stockton, which implies that I cannot join any groups that may conflict with my school or athletic schedule; however, in the upcoming spring semester, I will be looking to be a part of some clubs. I am striving to play an intramural sport in the off-season with some of my friends and I will be looking to be joining an organization for my belief in Christianity. If I have the time, I may try to sign up for the sign language club here at Stockton.

No matter how crowded the hallways may be, I feel that the Get Involved Fair is a great first step for new students to lodge their foot in the door at Stockton. The Fair is here for transfers and freshman like myself to experiment and find a home with people, and that is why the welcoming atmosphere was so essential. Sometimes people will join a group and not like it, sometimes people will join a group and love it, but it is up to us to make the brave first step in interacting with our community at Stockton.

We are here at Stockton not just to receive an education, but also to make friendships and be a part of something that we are passionate about.

Ryan Holiday, author of Trust Me I’m Lying, visited Stockton this Thursday to talk about his former life as a media manipulator for the freshman convocation. After warm opening statements from the president of the Student Senate Victoria Dambroski, Holiday took to the stage and began.

Ryan Holiday signing books after his “Trust Me I’m Lying Talk”

 He started off with a brief recall of his first month of college where he, similar to us, was given a book to read over the summer and had to attend a talk from the author. Holiday described how this was the first time he had met a writer and how awed he was to see firsthand that she was just another person. It gave helped him realize the freedoms he had in the sense that he was not confined to any one role or profession, he could buy and large be as creative as he wanted in finding ways to finance his mortgage.

After a segue into how he met his longtime friend Tucker Max and an overview of his work as a publicist at American Apparel, Holiday broke into his three main points. First was the understanding that the public’s outrage is being taken advantage of. He pointed out at two examples of the same “Kellyanne Conway being fired” story from left and right perspectives, and then divulged that the articles were written from the same source as a way to keep the political dichotomy hot. The second point was about understanding the digital divide, and knowing that internet literacy is a very real skill that a very real portion of the population does not have. In this portion, he explained how 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook. His third and last idea was to unsubscribe from the news. So much of the breaking news today is speculation or has no direct impact on your life, and Holiday proposes just… not listening to what isn’t pertinent. Stop the push notifications. Stop the noise. Simple as that. He ended the presentation with pictures of his pet donkeys. Not a total loss.

After the convocation, I had a chance to meet Holiday and ask him a question while he signed my book. Everything he discussed about the news culture was centralized to America, so I wanted to hear his view internationally. I essentially asked how or if his tactics of manipulating the media are applied in areas without the freedom of the press we experience her in the US, places  like Syria, Ukraine, and Russia.

Holiday explained that it was often the government executing these techniques. In order to appear as if the country does have a free press space, the regimes will bombard citizens with so much information that they cannot discern what is truth from what is fact. He described this as a “top-down” technique and commented on its irregularity, and he used North Korea in his explanation.

When he returned my copy of Trust Me I’m Lying, there was a small note above his signature. It simply read “Use this book for good and not evil.”

On Saturday September 9^th, 2017, I participated in my first Stockton Day of Service. Being perfecting honest, I didn’t want to go. The only reason I originally signed up and went was because it was a service event that counted towards my requirements to remain in the Honors Program this fall. I really wasn’t a happy camper that I was going to go, but from 9am until sometime later that afternoon, what I found was pleasantly surprising.

No doubt, I walked in with a bad attitude, just looking for reasons to get pissed off about having to go. To my surprise though, I had a really hard time doing so. The first event I was part of, I was tasked with assembling and binding children’s coloring books with string. However, once I got into the rhythm of what I was doing and music was playing, I found I was starting to have a good time. I thought I would have enjoyed spending my morning in bed, but the positive environment of the first event made me feel good to do good, and I really enjoyed participating.

The second event I went to was a seminar about the heroin epidemic in Atlantic County and across the state of New Jersey. Heroin has indirectly affected parts of my life in the past, so learning and listening to these people talk about the problem felt down to earth, and very real, but was really insightful into the issues our society faces today. I walked away with a different perception about the problem, and gained some valuable insight I can carry with me.

Then I moved on and assisted in packaging rice meals for third world countries. Again, what could have been a long hour and ten minutes of scooping rice into bags, was not. Music was blasting, everyone was singing, people were in a good mood, and I could feel the energy in the room. The time just flew by. By the end of it all, I didn’t want to stop, and looking at all the boxes of food I just packaged was a sincerely proud moment to look at what my peers and I at Stockton can do in such a short period of time.

Lastly, all the groups met up back in the campus center event room, for Kevin Wanzer, a speaker and comedian, who gave not only a heartfelt story about raising his adopted transgender child, but made the stories hilarious. His presentation was a great ending to a great day. And while I walked into Day of Service that morning miserable that I am using my Saturday to do this work, I walked out that afternoon in an awesome mood and feeling accomplished. I look forward to participating in another Day of Service soon.

On september 19, 2017 Dr. Julian E. Zelizer came to Stockton to present his topic of constitutional democracy in the era of Donald Trump. He posed a question “Is the state of American politics currently facing a constitutional crisis?”  Dr. Zelizer is a political analyst and a historian who used his knowledge to study the current president, Donald Trump as well as his administration, and then used the information to compare to past presidents and their parties as well as success. He found that Trumps style in dealing with foreign policies and aggressive leadership is not very different from the way presidents such as Reagan, Johnson, Kennedy, Clinton, and Bush lead our country.

One of the most interesting subjects Dr. Zelizer talked about was that there will be a democratic congress by 2019. This change will be due to Trump continuously causing republicans to stand up against him. Not only was it informational to hear what is to be expected in our near future, but I gained a much better understanding of how our government works and the effects our president has on individual people as well as mass groups of leadership, such as our congress in our country.  

Today’s education system seems to skip, or only lightly touch on teaching about our government branches and politics. Dr. Zelizer spoke about our President’s relationship with congress and how his power can be, and should be, checked or even belittled by congress. Understanding that students are not as involved as they should be, Dr. Zelizer suggests students at Stockton and all over our country become more engaged. Ways that Dr Zelizer suggests getting involved are through voting, attending debates, and participating in civic activity.  

Constitution Day at Stockton was very enlightening as well as thought provoking. Dr. Zelizer lead the audience through an analysis of the issues our government has been faced with under President Trump, as well as the importance of foreign policies. With all the recent negative news it was important that someone could shed some positive light on our country’s current situation. By concluding with questions the audience was able to get involved in the conversation and clear up any misconceptions. Overall I felt like I learned a lot about the Presidency and the students of Stockton can now have a better grasp on American politics.

On Thursday, September 29^th from 8:00 – 11:00 PM, Stockton’s Pride Alliance hosted an open mic night in the Coffee House of the Campus Center. They planned the event with the intent of supporting the bisexual and pan-sexual community. Anyone who wanted to was encouraged to sign up and perform on the stage. The stage was adorned with pride flags, a microphone, and speaker. As performers took the stage, audience members were welcomed to enjoy cookies, fruit, and hot chocolate provided by the Pride Alliance.

Many people elected to sing when they got their chance on stage. The singers often explained that they had strong emotional connections with the songs that they had performed. One performer expressed that music was always a coping mechanism for her during difficult times because it expressed her feelings far better than she thought she ever could. Many of the other performers agreed. Some sang acapella while others sang with the accompaniment of their own instruments or background music. The Pride Alliance was very accommodating to however the volunteers wanted to perform.

Other performers entered the stage to share stories of self-discovery and struggles they had gone through to get to that very point. In particular, one transgender male explained his past of struggling with identity and his difficulty of coming out to his parents. He expressed that things have gotten much better thanks to the incredible support of his friends and school. He then concluded by encouraging anyone who had any questions or just wanted to talk to approach him after the performance.

The atmosphere was one of complete acceptance and support. Every performer was applauded and cheered for. Their effort and bravery was always recognized. It takes a lot of courage to get up on that stage and open up about such personal things. The overwhelming support was absolutely appreciated.

This event was very important to the Stockton community as it provided members of the LGBT community with a platform to express themselves.  For others who did not perform, it allowed them to hear from people who may be going through something similar. Something that was said by a performer may have been exactly what an audience member needed to hear. It showed those who may be struggling, currently, that there are people out there who understand how they are feeling. For both performers and audience members, this event reminded them that they are not alone.

As for the heterosexual audience members, it provided them with a perspective they may never have realized before. The anecdotes shared by the performers brought forth struggles that heterosexual people have most likely never experienced. It opened up eyes and brought forth conversations that a heterosexual person may not typically have. It is so important to see life through someone else’s perspective. This was an amazing event to open up minds.

The themes of the night were support and acceptance. Many performers discussed how important it was to have a support system throughout their struggles and to feel accepted for who they are. Through this event, the Pride Alliance showcased not only the support system that they provide, but also the support that the Stockton community gives. It was an incredible night for all in attendance as it reminded everyone that no matter what struggle they are facing or battle they are fighting, they are not alone.

I didn’t hate Trust Me I’m Lying when I first read it. But I certainly didn’t like it either. Media manipulation isn’t exactly a secret, nor is it some abstract topic hard to understand. Actually, I would think it’s pretty simple: powerful individuals with ulterior motives exploit an unsuspecting public for money or otherwise. Going into the event, I had expected him to reiterate this theme of the book a few more times.

Yesterday, on September 28th at the Stockton University Freshman Convocation, Ryan Holiday did speak. And he did reiterate the themes of his book. He discussed a how the media system is broken and how bloggers manipulate information and often lie to catch the public’s attention and gain more page views.  He also talked about how people encourage this system by getting their emotions involved and sharing it with their friends. But again, all of this was already laid out in the book, and therefore not the takeaway from his presentation.

The things I found interesting about Holiday’s presentation were those that were not illustrated in the book. For one, occasionally throughout book, one could get the feeling that he did not ardently disapprove of the media system, as he didn’t seem very vocal in his condemnation. In fact, he even tells his audience to do what they want with the information that he has laid out and during one of his interviews, I even got the impression that he was still in the business of media manipulation. But during his presentation, he seemed very discontented with the media and the way that it works, and clarified that he is no longer in that business, that the book was his way of breaking those connections and walking away from this thing that was increasingly itching at his conscience. Or perhaps have current events, including Donald Trump’s rise to presidency, altered his views over time?

He went on to discuss the importance of “media literacy”, which I think isn’t something that is talked about all that much. Actually, it is apparent that it isn’t because, as Holiday disclosed in his presentation, 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook and 7% legitimately believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. And yes, I did check. He wasn’t lying. We live in a world where fake news spreads quicker than real news, and the online media industry understands that and fully exploits it. Holiday explains that it is increasingly essential that we are able to discern what is and isn’t fictitious and what is and isn’t relevant to us and our lives, because it is so easy to get pulled into the trap that is laid out for us.

Holiday’s presentation at Freshman Convocation was, in a way, more thought-provoking than the book was—at least for me it was. It encouraged me to look beyond the pages of his book into the world in which I live and look critically at my own usage of media and question whether or not the news I am reading is important and relevant to me.

Finally, I had one question for Holiday, which I never got the chance to ask, and I now leave for you, dear audience: if everything we read and see in the media can be fake, how do we discern what is real and what isn’t? Or have the lines between the two become so blurred that they no longer exist?

Volunteering at Habitat for Humanity

For the past few years I have volunteered off and on at my local Habitat for Humanity Restore. The Restore takes donations of household items such as furniture, appliances, and even decorations from the public. The store then sells those items at low rates to others in the community who could not otherwise afford those items. The profits made at the store are then used to construct houses through the Habitat for Humanity for low income families.

Before I began volunteering there in high school, I was unaware that the Habitat for Humanity Restore existed. I knew friends who had worked with Habitat for Humanity to build houses, but had not heard of anyone volunteering in their Restore. Physically building the houses with the Habitat for Humanity was not exactly a form of volunteering that appealed to me, so I was excited to find another way to help out the organization.

While volunteering there, I helped unload donations from the back of trucks, organize furniture and shelves, place prices on items, as well as help customers locate items that they were looking for. My shifts there were never dull because there was always something to do and new shipments of donations arriving multiple times a day. I made so many friends there who were volunteering alongside me who I would not normally have a chance to interact with otherwise.

Overall it was an amazing experience being able to be a volunteer there. It was amazing to see how many people were impacted by being able to buy essentials for their houses at a lower cost. Since many families could not afford to buy new items at the store, shopping at the restore was their only resort. I’m extremely thankful that my community has a resources like this since most second hand shops do not sell hardware and appliances for house. I loved being able to meet the people I was helping as well as the idea that the patrons who were shopping there were also helping since their money spent there was going towards building houses for low income families. I was thrilled to find out that volunteering there would fill my service requirement for the Honors Program at Stockton since it’s already a part of my life. It’s amazing to be able to continue to volunteer there and be able to see the progress I help make there over time.