Chris Adkins August 24th, 2008
There is a sign on the Jewish Life Center here on campus that says “Welcome Home to New and Returning Students.” When I was an incoming freshman, I think I would have considered this sign to be edging on the ridiculous. Home? That’s back in Florida. This is Vanderbilt; this is school. After three years here, though, I can’t help but feel like it’s the truth. Last night I was catching up with one of my friends and she commented that it feels like she never left for summer. I think that’s the true indication of how much Vanderbilt becomes a home for its students. The situation reminds me of old friends: if you feel really comfortable with a person, it doesn’t matter how much time passes between conversations. When you reunite you instantly click, able to joke and talk without missing a beat.
The fact that this is my last year at Vanderbilt - my last year at home - is affecting me more than I thought it would. One of the secondary essays for the Vanderbilt School of Medicine asks for an autobiography. I’d like to share part of that essay here because I think it is a great description of how I feel about Vanderbilt.
This process continued more or less the same throughout the first eighteen years of my life, punctuated by involvement in activities as diverse as my time in Model Student Senate to being Vice-President of the student body of my high school. And then it happened. One fateful day in late March I received a thin letter in the mail from Vanderbilt. I was crushed, thinking that the thinness of the envelope equated to a rejection. Morosely opening the letter prepared for the worst, I got what may be the most important single piece of news of my life to this point: I had gotten a scholarship which, along with my National Merit scholarship and a few other community funds, would defray the formidable cost of Vanderbilt enough to allow me to attend. It was the beginning of what has turned out to be the three most exciting, rewarding, and fun years of my life so far.
Born and raised in a largely homogeneous community in terms of both race and socioeconomic status, I reveled in the chance to meet other students who hailed from all over the country, from California (my roommate sophomore year) to New York (my roommate this year). I have met students who are the first in their family to attend college and students whose great-grandparents walked the same sidewalks at Vanderbilt that we are walking today. I have met students who are here thanks to a full financial need scholarship and students who fly into Nashville on private jets. Despite these seemingly vast differences, we are all able to come together, united by our passions; whether for engineering, medicine, art, or economics, we are actively involved students. This fact has not passed me by lightly. I have come to treasure the unifying environment Vanderbilt offers that allows students from incredibly diverse backgrounds to form a community so seamless that the differences all but disappear, superseded by the commonalities that bind us together.
Along with the other activities in which I have become involved that I have described in my other essays, I believe that Vanderbilt both as an institution and as an experience has played the most important role in shaping me as a maturing young adult. I could not have asked for a better past three years and hope that you grant me the opportunity to continue to grow as a person and as a physician here for the next four.
That I would devote such a large part of my autobiography to Vanderbilt is telling. This place has come to be so much more than just school; it has grown to be an important part of who I am. I hope for their sake that in three years these new freshmen can see that “Welcome Home” sign and feel the same way.
Chris Adkins August 15th, 2008
No ands, ifs, or buts about it: home life is boring. After three years of Vandy life, one grows accustomed to excitement on a daily basis. From the huge number of clubs eager for your membership to your friends right down the hall, college life is an exercise in juggling twenty different activities at once. Home life, on the other hand, is a little bit slower with long summer days stretching out, filled with leisurely completion of med school secondaries, endless hours of Olympics coverage, and lots of naps. Luckily, Vandy kids hail from all over the country, making visits possible to break up the summer doldrums.
My friend and teammate came to visit me last week, giving both of us a good diversion from summer jobs and hanging out with parents. Although my hometown of Melbourne has earned the nickname of “Melboring” among the younger crowd due to the dearth of fun, I took Isa’s visit as an opportunity to try to show my city in the best and most thrilling light. The best I could come up with was a trip to the pool, the ice skating rink, my high school, and a baseball game. Upon learning of our schedule, Isa momentarily questioned my idea of a “packed itinerary” that I had proclaimed I had in store. I responded that in Melbourne during the summer a day involving a journey to the library represents a day worth remembering. Despite the lack of activities, we made the most of our time, having fun regardless of what we were doing. I can’t say, though, that her visit didn’t make me want to return to campus that much more to see everyone else.
Luckily, I’ll be going back to Vanderbilt in just a few days, so my next post should be substantially more exciting. Until then, keep hanging in there.
P.S. - I tried to upload some sweet pictures of my week but there’s some sort of HTTP error. I’ll work on getting it figured out so you can enjoy the sights of Melbourne.
Chris Adkins August 7th, 2008
Trying to think of how to start off this reincarnation of my old blog, I went back to Commodore in Spain to take a look at how I introduced myself a little less than a year ago when the Vandy Blogs were just starting off. With another year of life under my belt including nearly four months in Madrid, I thought that I would be a changed man. I guess I was a little too ambitious…
Crew team? Still doing that, although now that I’m an officer and a van driver, my mornings start closer to 4:30 than 4:38 (big change, I know). Research with Dr. Friedman? You guessed it; I’m still chugging away at the lab bench, producing data on telomerase mutants like none other (except for all the other undergrads and grad students in my lab, I suppose!). In fact, I just returned home from Vanderbilt where I continued my research over the summer as well as mentored my wonderful rising sophomore intern Jessica so she can develop her own research project over the coming years. And, as for that paper I was so excited about, it finally made it to print (caution: link not for the faint of heart)! Interpreting at Matthew Walker? Well, pretty close. Instead of interpreting at the low-cost Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center, I now interpret at the free Shade Tree Clinic, a facility operated nearly entirely by Vanderbilt medical students. It’s been an unbelievably rewarding and educational experience and is one that I hope to continue until the day of graduation.
While I dabble in a few other activities on campus, these remain my big three, the ones that have already made me homesick for Vanderbilt after being at my real Florida home for only about a week. Over the next year, then, you can expect to hear a lot about them, hopefully giving you a better idea of the myriad activities available to Vanderbilt students (and hopefully it might just convince a few of you to give crew a shot!).
Another theme that you can expect to read about over the coming months is medical school. Or, better said, applying to medical school. Since it has consumed my life over the past month and secondary application essays are likely to consume it for the next month, it will inevitably sneak into this blog. If lady luck is on my side, I might even get to write about all the great cities and schools I travel to for interviews. Wish me luck; heaven knows anyone going through this process can use as much as they can get!
Until next time.