Written for The Argo by Esmeralda Rivera

With the new semester comes new stories to share. After creating the Story Space event in Spring 2022, Parth Thakkar, coordinator of Student Life Programming, hosted the first event of the series for the Spring 2023 semester with the theme “My Favorite Present.” The theme allowed students to not only share possible awesome presents they might have gotten over the break, or over any holiday, but also precious gifts their families, their friends, or even Stockton have given them.

January 25^th was quite a gloomy day, with a harsh downpour looming over Stockton’s campus, and the students’ evident exhaustion from the Get Involved Fair cleanup. Story Space provided not only the chance to relax but also the chance for students to get to know one another and make deeper connections with those they already know—not to mention there was free pizza, salad, and snack bags, along with giveaways for the storytellers. What kind of Stockton student doesn’t like free food?

Despite the small crowd that gathered, with the weather staving off the population, along with a room change from the usual Meeting Room 5 to Room L-104 thanks to the Presidential meeting, a good batch of meaningful stories was heard. Some were sweet, unexpected gifts from loved ones, like new rings to replace broken ones the same day, while others were well-deserved gifts to themselves after a long period of hard work, like a brand-new PS5 and electric car.

One student in particular, a Health Science sophomore named Noorulhuda Waneed, shared how important her community was to her. Upon arriving at Stockton, she had a hard time relating and connecting to those around her and finding a family away from family. Thankfully, she was able to soon find a community she felt accepted in, and feels that she belongs. Her story seemed to touch the hearts of the other participants, reminding them all how important connection and friendship are, and what a precious gift they can be.

The next Story Space date has not been announced yet but will take place in Meeting Room 5 at the Campus Center. Any changes will be announced. The Office of Student Development is located in the Campus Center Suite 240.