Annual Opportunity Fair Connects Students To High-Impact Practices
The annual Glow Up Opportunity Fair was held on Tuesday, Sept. 23, in the Campus Center Event Room.
Galloway, N.J. – Since 2018, the annual Glow Up Opportunity Fair has bridged students from across class standings and fields of study with various on-campus leadership roles and high-impact practice opportunities.
This year’s fair, held on Sept. 23 in the Campus Center Event Room, hosted more than 20 information tables advertising internships, leadership and research opportunities, service-learning openings, study abroad options and more.
Andrew Tae Pugh, a Business Marketing major from Toms River, saw the fair advertised on OspreyHub and decided to explore business-specific internships with a friend.
“I also saw that there’s a new Entrepreneurship program and club, so I might check that out. We're also checking out more stuff for other disciplines, like art and social sciences, which is very interesting. There's a lot of cool stuff around here,” Tae Pugh said. “I'm grateful for just having an opportunity to learn about all these opportunities that they provide here. Hopefully, I could land a cool internship or a job.”
In addition to having the chance to network with their peers and explore on-campus opportunities, participating students received “boarding passes,” which were stamped at each table they visited. Students with a fully stamped pass were entered into a raffle, where three random winners received prizes.
Communication Studies major Gianna Hernandez and Health Science major Dalton Estelow’s passes were full after just 30 minutes. As first-generation students hailing from Trenton, seeing all Stockton has to offer was an experience they deeply enjoyed.
“I hadn’t realized how much Stockton has; they have a lot of opportunities here that are for me. For example, the R.A.s, the Multicultural Center and the Women's Gender & Sexuality Center. There's a lot of different stuff that I could do here,” Hernandez said.
“I think Stockton is very generous with the opportunities that they give, especially with the jobs and the service work that they do,” Estelow said. “A lot of the support that they come through with is really great.”
Ian Bouie, Stockton’s director of Academic Achievement Programs, considers the Glow Up Fair to be “integral” to Stockton, saying, “Students look forward to it every semester. I'm really excited that we get to continue this tradition for each crop of students every year.”
– Story by Loukaia Taylor
– Photos by Susan Allen
Four Years of 'Glowing Up' at Stockton
September 22, 2023
Galloway, N.J. – The Glow Up Opportunity Fair, which represents another opportunity for Stockton University students to get involved, was originally created in 2018 to expose underrepresented students to different on-campus leadership roles and job opportunities with informational tabling.
Since then, the program has expanded to include Fred Talks (inspired by TED Talks) by fellow students, raffling for prizes with the use of “boarding passes” and more, as evidenced by Thursday, Sept. 21’s event.
Although Yesenia Pacheco, coordinator for Student Transitions, Access and Retention, didn’t create this event, she does consider it one of her passion projects that continues to grow and change.
“I'm super excited to see so many students, especially students of color, coming out to get connected to high-impact practices because I know that will enhance their success overall and prepare them to become better and more well-rounded students,” Pacheco said.
