Imagine it’s your first day of college. Your parents drop you off. You move into a strange room with a strange new friend. Your life in higher education is about to begin.
Then hours after your parents leave someone in a bright tie-dye shirt herds you and three hundred of your new friends into a caravan of buses. You’re going to Camp.
For nearly a decade Stockton College has started their incoming freshman experience just like this. Hour after Welcome Week begins students arrive at Camp Ockanickon to participate in SOAR, Stockton Orientation Adventure Retreat. For three days students participate and interact with their peers on the challenge course, swimming, boating, archery, and number of faculty-driven orientation sessions. All amongst the pines, around the cabins, and in the sand here at Camp.
Why Camp? What is it about this experience that drives the school to embark on such a journey with their students? Stockton College normally has about a 60% graduation rate for incoming freshman after four years. A little higher for those in the five, six year plan. Compared to other similar schools this is already an impressive number. What’s even more impressive, 98% of the students that participate in SOAR graduate from Stockton with a Bachelor’s Degree. Three day of Camp to virtually guarantee success in college. Pretty awesome.
Our appreciation and thanks go out to Stockton College and their students for allowing us to partner with them in this wonderful experience. Best of luck to the Stockton class of 2018.
Dave