Vanderbilt University Register: 15 Questions With . . .

11 Questions With . . .

... Kim Fuller,

Directory of Commencement

What was your favorite band when you were in high school?

I was a punk when I was in high school. I guess the Violent Femmes.

What book are you currently reading?

I'm reading two books that are so different, that take my mind off my job. Ten Poems to Change Your Life and The Age of Spiritual Machines, which is kind of a scary book if you're into looking at things through a futurist eye.

How do you spend your leisure time?

I'm a scrap-booker. My mother never put anything in an album, so my baby book was a huge cardboard box filled with things from the first 20 years of my life. I've been working on my own baby book.

Where did you go to college?

I went to Austin Peay State University in Clarksville and double-majored in French and history. I wanted to be a French professor and teach French civilization.

How did you come to direct Vanderbilt's Commencements?

I hadn't applied to graduate school, so after graduation I went to Europe for eight weeks. I came back, realized I had no money and didn't want to live in Clarksville anymore. I moved and worked in Sewanee for a while, then decided to move to Nashville to be with Rob, whom I'd been dating. Dorothy Johnson Career Consultants in Nashville set up three interviews for me in a single day, one of which was with Felicity [Peck, former Commencement director]. By the time I finished interviewing with her, she had me up and being introduced to the suite. And here I am, working in a university though in a different capacity.

How did meet your husband Rob?

Through the Nashville Scene personals. He answered my ad. Some people have a hard time with that, so I lie and say we met at Davis-Kidd [Booksellers].

Favorite Nashville restaurant?

The Melting Pot. We go there once a year. It's sickening, but we go around Valentine's Day. We think going on Valentine's Day is just too much.

Best vacation destination?

France. That's my favorite.

Most humbling moment?

I think my most humbling moment is coming up. I think it'll be May 10.

Where will you be at 7 a.m. on the morning of Commencement?

On Sarratt Terrace having heart palpitations. At 7 p.m., though, I'll be on a flight to France. My husband is staying with my sickly grandparents so my mother can go with me to see a cousin get married on May 11.

Closing thoughts?

Commencement is truly the outward, visible sign of what a university is -- the graduation of its students. Commencement is the reason we're all here.

-- Whitney Weeks

e-mail to the editor