The Vandy Admissions Blog

frankwcislo November 21st, 2009

It’s a quiet Friday morning on The Commons. The campus is pausing for a week-long Thanksgiving Break that begins tomorrow. Many people are headed home. Others, especially students who live abroad, will stay here or travel elsewhere in the United States. Hard to believe that it’s “only” been twelve weeks since the semester began in late August. So much has changed since then—-new friends, new classes, new experiences, new discoveries.

A group of students was in the house the other night (I can’t take myself so seriously as to call it the Dean’s Residence, but please do understand that my family and I literally live in the center of The Commons). They were my Visions group (shout out to Group 80!). Every first year student belongs to a Visions group that meets weekly with a student and faculty “VUceptor” to discuss the transition everybody is experiencing as they move from high school to college. It’s a steep learning curve. For our group, that translated into talking for an hour a week about where we were at in the semester—sometimes structured discussion but more often than not general chat. We’d always start by going around the circle and playing “highs and lows” of the week. “My high of the week was seeing my girlfriend from home and my low of the week was the calculus exam.” You get the idea.

Since this was the last official session of the semester (we decided to have one more after the Break to spend our group activity fee on dinner at the world-famous Loveless Café!), we played “highs and lows” of the semester. There were lows. “The Swine”—H1N1—has been an issue here this semester, so sickness was one constant,, as was lack of sleep, as was the discovery that, in fact, not everybody possibly can get A’s. I remembered that my high of the semester was Lindsay’s low; she was crushed that the Phillies lost the World Series and hated the fact I was a Yankees fan! The group started pausing, though, when it tried to remember the “high” of the semester, and fairly soon the consensus started to emerge that there were “highs, ” but these just reduced to a common denominator. They simply liked it at Vanderbilt, they felt at home, were having a good time of it, and felt a growing self-confidence. “Yeah, I’ve talked with some of my friends from high school, and they’re just not as happy as I am.” “That’s true for me, too. I just like it here.”

Of course, for me, as a professor, to be surrounded by young people in both my classrooms and my neighborhood who are comfortable enough to be themselves means that they are tapping into their capacity for personal and intellectual growth—the chief reason we brought them to Vanderbilt in the first place. As they grow and explore, my life becomes richer. That makes me—and my colleagues—happy as well. As does having a Thanksgiving Break.

• Balance , Commons , Freshman Commons , Housing , Living on Campus , Nashville , Uncategorized
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Thom November 6th, 2009

Eran Egozy, co-founder and Chief Technical Officer at Harmonix Music Systems which develops the interactive music video game Rock Band will speak 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Vanderbilt’s Student Life Center.  The talk will address creativity in leadership and the cultural impact of the many wildy popular interactive music games on the marketplace today.  The talk is a component of Vanderbilt’s Creative Campus initiative meant to infuse innovative thinking and artisitic creation into everyday campus life at Vanderbilt and is sponsored by VU’s Curb Center.  Following the talk will be a Rock Band competition open to all students, faculty, and staff.  VU OUA is considering an entry . . . oh yes.  Rock on.

In the spirit of creativity, it seems as though someone placed a costume mask on the Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt statue yesterday.  It is not that uncommon to find various articles of clothing on the big guy from time to time.  Have a great Fall weekend.

• Academic Life , Balance
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Thom April 21st, 2009

I’m a Friday afternoon guy.  The undeniable buoyancy in the air, the simultaneous anticipation of things to come paired with an exhaling from the week, and the mutually held good mood that’s passed back and forth between people that only happens on a Friday afternoon.  The energy is pure and tangible.  It’s not the trite ”work hard - play hard” stuff, I am in my early thirties after all.  It’s a simple joy in life, a weekly tradition that is experienced by many, but in a tight community like Vanderbilt, it’s something special.

I have been talking with admitted students from all across the country at programs and on campus and I have been struck by the complexity of the decisions they are making right now.  It’s east coast/west coast or Nashville, it’s big school with an honors program or Vanderbilt, close to mom and dad or far away, go to the school that my girlfriend/boyfriend will be attending or not?  I have to admit that having a front row seat to this developmentally important process is one of the major reasons I love my job.  I believe fully that the college decision is your first draft on a full and independent adult life.  It doesn’t define you, but it formalizes ever so slightly the person you think you want to become, the people you want to be around, and the experiences you want to shape you.  How you go about making that decision is a good first step into adult decision-making.  I have heard about college decisions that ended with the fabled “ray of light” theory, where someone wakes up with an unfettered clarity and an intuitive peace about which choice is right.  While I don’t mock that this happens to people, whether through meditation or prayer for example, I do think expecting that kind of serendipitous certainty can endlessly taunt many students. 

So if you’re one of those who will have to work at your decision, going over pros and cons and debating your options, I offer up this theory: often the best choice is the one that involves the least negative-sum exchanges.  What I mean is that in any decision of consequence you often give something to get something.  A super high paying job may be what you get, but you will likely have to give much more than 40 hours a week, which ripples outward and impacts your family/social life and potential happiness.  Attending a school that’s far away from home may bring a sense of autonomy and “being out on your own” but you may give up the benefits of closeness with your family and close friends.  For example, I have found that many admitted students I talk to are choosing between schools that all offer a high level of academic horsepower, but very different community dynamics.  At Vanderbilt, we feel comfortable putting our classroom experience up against any University (but we’re biased).  What I have come to understand in my three years here though is that this highly intellectual community maintains such a high level of livability for many Vanderbilt students. 

To me, Vanderbilt offers Tuesday morning academics in a setting that feels like a Friday afternoon.  I reject that if a student wants an elite academic experience that they have to put up with a community that is cut-throat and staid.  I suppose that is why I feel so at home at Vanderbilt.  Everyday I meet students who are so diverse in their backgrounds, so interesting as people and at the same time, are some of the top intellects in the country.  I rationalize that you can chalk this balance up to Nashville as a backdrop for Vandy.  It’s a progressive and youthful city for sure, but has a famously laid back vibe.  Perhaps it’s the weather?  The professors?  Ultimately, whatever the source, it sets the scene nicely for students to not have to make concessions in their decisions, at least not when it comes to the nexus of academics and community.  Being close to your family or your significant other?  You’re on own with that one.

• Balance , I've been admitted - now what? , Nashville
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Thom March 4th, 2009

1. Vanderbilt students are scattered to the winds for Spring Break, including our ASB Groups out there helping hundreds if not thousands of people, go ‘Dores.  Selfishly, I celebrate increased parking spots.
2. Head Commodore Football Coach and all around great ambassador for Vandy, Bobby Johnson was recently named 2008 Nashville Sports Person of the Year.
3. Krispy Kreme donuts and the wonderful colleague who brought them in this morning.
4. Rites of Spring quickly approaching with headliners just announced: Flaming Lips, Q-Tip & N.E.R.D.
5. Ridiculously stupid car window art.

Also making today a buffet of awesome is that March is here, which means we mail decisions in less than 4 weeks from now.  Our officers keep reading and getting ready for MOSAIC.  In the meantime, feel free to check out BlogVU, which collects many of the best blogging coming out of Vanderbilt.  A personal favorite is the Barca Blog.

• Balance , Nashville , Rites of Spring , Vanderbilt Alternative Spring Break , Vanderbilt Blogs , Vandy Athletics
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Thom February 26th, 2009

Seriously, stop it.  Not to go all Billy Gates on you, but there’s this little squared red X in the top right corner of your computer screen and I’m begging you to punch it in the face.   Unless you’re a transfer student, all your applications are in, and unless you’re an early decision applicant and have already heard our decision, all you can do now is wait for us to make up our minds and mail you a letter.  We’ll be shipping those around April 1, so there’s this space between now and then that nothing new is going to happen.  So step away for a while and save yourself for the whirlwind of April when all the cards will be on the table, and us college folks will have to wait for your decision.

Sam Snead, the legendary golfer said, “To be consistently effective, you must put a certain distance between yourself and what happens to you on the golf course. This is not indifference, it’s detachment.”  What he’s getting at is that in an endeavor of difficulty where many things will go right, but many others will go wrong, the central actor must remain calm, untroubled, above it all, as if separate from the toils.  It’s not a break with caring, as Snead points out, it’s a form of personal resiliency from the stress and struggle.  I will at this point stop channeling my inner Bagger Vance.

Why am I writing this to you?  Isn’t this space just supposed to be used for updates on our admissions process?  Sure, it’s that.  However, I feel responsible to use this platform to 1) nudge our conversations beyond file reading or getting in to Vanderbilt (or wherever), and 2) embolden you to view your college search experience as a springboard for future big decisions in your life.  Today’s petition:  be active, be engaged, really own it, but have an off switch.

According to Google, more than a thousand people read our blog on a weekly basis.  We’re humbled by this.  But next week, we would love to see a number half that.  Get away from the college application process folks.  For a day, for a week.  We’ll leave the light on for you when you get back.  Plus, it’s all archived, so it’s not going anywhere.  Get diverted.  Go for a drive, read something for fun and not just in your Google Reader - preferably something with pages, download Yakety Sax to your iPod and just try not to smile, rent Con Air on DVD and remark at how John Malkovich’s career literally disintegrates in front of your eyes with each passing scene, grab a friend on that first day that feels like Spring when everyone is charged to finally be out of doors, and just detach for a little while.  It’s called spring break for a reason. It starts with that little red X up there.

• Admissions Committee , Advice for Parents , Balance , College Confidential
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