Loving memories from my years at Stockton!

I am currently in the computer lab and I have completed two pages of my Gatsby essay for Money and the American Imagination.

In writing the essay for The Great Gatsby, we are given various choices in regards to the topic that we want to compare with the story. Such topics include Gatsby and conspicuous consumption, Gatsby, money, and the American Dream, Money and success in The Great Gatsby, Gatsby as the self-made man, and a few others. The Great One has chosen conspicuous consumption, only because it is so obvious with Gatsby. Everything, from his garden to the parties he throws and the automobiles that he drives, illustrates his subjection to conspicuous consumption (according to Thorstein Weblen, purchasing goods that are far superior to what one needs for sustenance).

Enough of that for now...

Approaching the end of a long and adventurous journey

I can not believe that this is the final week of class for the semester and the school year. Furthermore, I am shocked that this is the final week of my final year of college! As I stated in the previous post, this whole situation is a combination of sadness, shock, and excitement. There are plenty of things that I will miss about this college. Many of the memories I have of my years here will live on in my memory and my heart, probably for the rest of my life.

This institution is where I met my significant other, the first real love of my life. This institution is where I broke out into the society on my own, arriving at a college in a different location with nothing more than my most valued possessions. The Great One, establishing himself in a new environment at a different school amongst a diversified community, did not need to hold the hands of seven or eight high school classmates in order to fit in.This s is where my confidence (which was never truly lacking ) skyrocketed to an all-time high and enabled me to accomplish tasks and reach goals that I was previously unsure of attaining.It is a strong belief of mine that this school is what greatly contributed to making me who I am today, as opposed to who I was three years ago. Today, I see myself as more of a leader. I view myself as somebody who can adapt to society more than I was capable of doing before I moved away from home.

Here are some terrific memories that The Great One will always cherish about being a college student at Stockton:

• Going to Nwing with friends for some intelligent (some enjoyable) conversation with my peoples.
• Walking over to the apartments with the L-Dorm crew to drink on Thursday nights in 2002-03.
• Anthony Chodan, his snakes, and how he used Aaron as their bait.
• Meeting Jaime at F23 on Halloween night 2002, only to begin going out with her on December 18, 2002. My gosh, has it been that long???
• Dr. Worthington, his Intro/Management, Business Policy and Strategy, and Human Resources Management courses, and the fact that I aced all of them EASILY. Dr. Worthington = greatest professor EVER! Quite fitting that the World's Greatest Professor would be teaching The Great One at some point or another. It was a right of passage; one that amused me.
• Late night trips to Wawa for coffee and snacks. I did this every single year I went to Stockton. Having social gatherings in the lounges in L-Dorm. Wawa hoagies are off the hook!!
• Drunken Volleyball at the court by TRLC (including Drunken Volleyball opera).
• Meeting and hanging out with all of the various people I encountered in my three years here at Stockton: Jaime, Anna, Ray, Jack, Evan, Nicole, Chuck, Aaron, Anthony, Shiek, Colleen, Kristen, Jeremy.S, Mike, Keeley, Jeremy.M, Sean, Brian A, Junior, Debra, Andrew, Rich, and many many many others who I failed to mention in this bulleted piece.
• Shiek's generosity with alcohol (I remember him giving out those 24oz bottles of Yuengling Lager at D 15 year spring semester). God bless him!
• My single in N-Dorm. Ohhhhhh, how I realized it's value when I no longer had it!!!!!!!! That single was such an asset. I still miss N206 to this very day.
• Going to mass on Sunday nights (sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't) and listening to Father Jeff. I always felt at peace when I left.
• Taking walks around the campus when the weather is nice (sometimes during the day; other times at night). Admiring the pine barrens and the nature surrounding the campus.
• Community Liquors and all the good times I was able to have (mostly on Thursday nights) because of that amazing liquor store. Every town in every state should have a community liquor for poor college students.
• Jaime, Shiek and I sobering Aaron up with chocolates.
• My drunken trip to the Chinese Restaurant on White Horse and to Home Depot with Erin and Ray. Who else slaps five with a card board cut out?????
• Taking random trips to Target with Anna, Ray, and the rest of the gang(sometimes for Cherry Coke ).
• Eating lunch at G-Wing and dinner at N-Wing with the regulars (Ray, Anna, Jeremy, Jack, etc).
• Working at M.A.H.G. on the upper floor of the library (with Kathy, Marcie, and Dr. Lithell) my first year here and having Jaime join me in the library to study so she could be with me (even before we were going out).
• Trips to Ocean City when the weather got warmer. Going with Ray, Kristen, Erin, Anna, Nicole, and Jaime spring semester 2004. Bacardi Crunch! Anna shaving my head later that day.
• Firmly believing, after a long night of drinking in F Court on my 22nd birthday, that I was Superman and jumping out of a moving car in the parking lot believing that I could fly. I never hit the blacktop so hard in my life. Crazy times!
• Fight Night 2004 with Chuck every Tuesday and Thursday at my apartment last semester. Then he had to go ahead and graduate on me!
• Fratority REPREZENT. Fratority dinners at N-wing. Rabies on a stick!
• Walking back to my apartment or dorm drunk to the fullest extent. Running into random people at random times in random locations. Wasted and meeting Dan Chapman in the computer lab after Evan's Jungle Juice party just a few weeks ago.
• The Irish Pub in Atlantic City.
• Standing outside of the L-Dorm Residential Hall and drinking with 15-20 of my fellow L-Dorm residents. Those were the good times, before the on campus police came out of the closet.
• Going out for random drives around the South Jersey area (Smithville, Galloway, Absecon, Atlantic City, P-town, etc).
• Historic Smithville, with all of the old shops.
• All the times I spent with Jaime, from watching movies, to spending every day at the library with her, to being with her every night and do homework with her.
  

There are many more memories of my times here at Stockton, but they will be posted as my final days come to pass. This school will be sorely missed and I am not exactly sure at this moment what will come of me immediately following my departure from here.

At this time, all I know is that I am heading to Wawa with Brian. He is currently tapping me on the shoulder with an empty Pepsi bottle.

Take care and be safe.

Peace.