Self-Discovery
If Music Be the Food of Love
Sep. 5, 2019—Ben Donohoe, ’22, Arts and Sciences It’s a Sunday afternoon. I swing open the door and enter a chilly, almost eerily quiet space with black walls and rows of empty chairs, striding up onto the stage until I stand in front of two reassuringly smiling faces. I introduce myself and take a deep breath.“If music be...
A Musical Journey
Jan. 28, 2019—Jordan Couceyro, ’20, Arts & Sciences Even though I’ve played piano since I was a kid, I’ve never really considered myself a musician. I’m not sure exactly why – I was fairly decent, and I really liked playing. I loved learning about and playing a wide variety of different styles, from classical to jazz to...
A Dream Come True
Dec. 3, 2018—Sharonda Adams, ’21, College of Arts & Sciences If you had told me eight years ago that I’d be a student at a prestigious university, I’d have asked you one question: “What’s a university?” Growing up in poverty, I did not have the resources to learn about what higher education truly was. I didn’t dream...
Intersecting Identities
May. 15, 2017—Anuska Dhar, ’19 Peabody College Walking into the org fair my freshman year, I felt this weight lifted off my shoulders as I realized I could totally reinvent myself in college and explore interests I had never been able to prioritize before in high school. Granted, the possibilities seemed a little overwhelmingly endless, but...
Living With a Disability
May. 15, 2017—Carla Pax, ’19 School of Engineering The summer before my sophomore year of college, I found myself in a lot of pain. I had trouble lifting my arms above my head, dressing myself in the morning, or even being able to bend my fingers. It seemed that every joint in my body was inflamed...
Thank You, ASB
May. 15, 2017—Agatha Fenech, ’19 College of Arts and Science *Alternative Spring Break (ASB) gives Vanderbilt University students an opportunity to spend their Spring Break working in service to communities and individuals across the country and the globe. Standing at the Student Org Fair. Hearing your VUceptor say, “Hey, you should really check out Alternative Spring...
I Live for the Stage
May. 15, 2017—Akash Majumdar, ’19 Vanderbilt Performing Arts Community I live for the stage. Every time the curtains rise, I experience a surge of adrenaline combined with the desire to resonate with my audience. While preparing to make the journey from Kolkata, India to Vanderbilt, I rummaged through Vanderbilt’s 500+ student organizations, trying to gauge my potential...
Walking Fast and Slow. Learning to “Profiter”
May. 2, 2017—Elizabeth Winter, ’18 College of Arts and Science Student VUceptor It’s hard to escape a conversation in Aix-en-Provence, a small city in the south of France, without hearing the phrase “profiter de,” translating roughly to “make the most of” or “enjoy” two to three times. Whether it’s “profiter d’Aix” (enjoy Aix), or “profiter du soleil”...
From D to Dean
May. 2, 2017—Vanessa Beasley, Ph.D. Dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons When I remember it now, I can still hear the sound of my mother crying. In the 1980s, when I was a Vanderbilt undergraduate, your final semester grades were sent home via the mail. There was no way for students to look up your final...
Identity, Adversity, and the Weight of Conforming
May. 2, 2017—“…I thought he was gay…”—five words that haunted me for the first twenty years of my life. I heard them whispered through the halls of my middle school by the “popular kids” that I wanted so badly to impress. I felt their scornful and demoralizing intentions in the concerned words of my Sunday school teachers...
Double-Majoring in Blair
May. 2, 2017—The start of my college experience was far from glamorous. I was enrolled in 16 hours but had class for twice that amount of time. Being a part of a campus that felt off the beaten path and practicing hours a day isolated me and skewed The Commons experience I hoped I would have. I...
Get Connected: The Many Faces of Vanderbilt
Apr. 27, 2017—Henry Bristol, ’19 School of Engineering When I got to Vanderbilt my freshman year, I had no idea what to expect. Frankly, I had set foot on campus just once before, and made the decision to come here because I couldn’t convince myself out of it. I was hesitant. I still vividly remember that first day...
Finding Purpose at Vanderbilt
Apr. 27, 2017—Krystal Clark Director, Office of Student Leadership Development Purpose is central to intentional action and it is one of the hardest but most fulfilling things to uncover. I say “uncover” because I believe that it is already inside of us, but it’s buried underneath a need to learn, grow, experience, fail, resist, laugh, compare, trust,...
Over-Involvement
Apr. 27, 2017—Do you know that feeling when your hands aren’t doing anything? You know, the one that they should be doing something? That’s how I felt on August 22, 2014, which was the date of the Student Organization Fair on The Commons. It was intense and overwhelming, but wonderful and exciting at the same time, and I...
LOSING A LOVED ONE
Mar. 29, 2017—Jackson Vaught, ’16, College of Arts and Science The first year of college can be difficult for anyone—moving away from home, finding new friends, adjusting to class…the list can get quite lengthy in terms of what can complicate the transition. During the spring semester of my first year at Vanderbilt, I experienced something unexpected that...
FAILURES IN A BOTTLE
Mar. 29, 2017—Andrew Brodsky, ’18, Peabody College, Student VUceptor At times, it seems the problem on our campus is that everyone is just too talented. There is someone here who is better than you at everything, and without any effort at all. They’re double majoring in chemical and biomedical engineering, studying abroad, and feeding 2,000 starving children...
ALMOST TRANSFERRING
Mar. 29, 2017—Anonymous I could not have been more excited to come to Vanderbilt. My brother, cousins, and older friends loved their experiences, and this was MY TIME. Everyone seemed certain I was going to love everything about school, so it never occurred to me that this might not be the case. Unfortunately, my first semester at...
PRIVILEGE
Mar. 29, 2017—Nick Sparkman, ’17, School of Engineering “So… what are you?” This question, asked by a white student, was posed to a person in my house who identifies as biracial. I watched my friend hesitantly fielding the question. I cannot truly understand what he felt as he was (under social pressure) forced to explain his racial...
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Mar. 29, 2017—Julian Sun, ’17, College of Arts and Science One night last semester, I went to Kissam’s Munchie Mart to get my routine midnight swipe: blue Powerade, a bag of chips (barbeque flavor), and the best red apple I could dig out of the remaining bruised ones. This was so automatic for me that I didn’t notice there...
STEPPING OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE
Mar. 29, 2017—Ben Taylor, ’15, School of Engineering Looking at my journey through four years at Vanderbilt, the graduating senior who I am now would barely recognize the homeschooled high school senior who came here in fall 2011. While it may seem as though I now have it “all figured out,” I was quite the opposite when...
ASK AND YOU SHALL FIND
Mar. 29, 2017—Sparsh Gupta, ’18, School of Engineering, VUcept Executive Board The mantra for finding research opportunities on campus seems to be: “Ask and you shall find.” While I am happy to report this is true, the real challenge is finding a lab that is a good fit. During my first year at Vandy, I worked in...