Author
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...
P.S.: STRUGGLING WITH COMING OUT
Mar. 29, 2017—Tom Agger, ’17, School of Engineering When I finally came out to my parents, I was relieved. “Finally, I’m done with this” I thought to myself. I had started writing them a very generic camp letter. I don’t know who came up with the idea that kids and parents would both rejoice at the exchange...
MAKING IT WORK
Mar. 29, 2017—Georgia Murray, ’19, College of Arts and Science Jordan Barone, ’16, College of Arts and Science “Oh, you work at the Pub, right?” Second only to “Aren’t you the British one?” this is the greeting I’m most used to when I meet new people on campus. Honestly, I hadn’t expected these two little facts to...
FINDING COMFORT IN IDENTITY: LIVING WITH AUTISM
Mar. 29, 2017—Emelyne Bingham, Senior Lecturer in the Teaching of Music, Blair School of Music, Faculty VUceptor Kyle Schwartz, ’19, College of Arts and Science Thanks to Vanderbilt Visions, we were fortunate to have formed a friendship through the common experience of living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While we received our diagnoses at different ages (Kyle at...
TO BOLDLY GO WHERE YOU HAVE NOT GONE BEFORE
Mar. 29, 2017—Nadiah Nordin, ’16, School of Engineering The first eighteen years of my life were spent in Malaysia, the land I was born in. Even then, I had always dreamed of going abroad for studies or on vacation. My parents, two high school teachers with four children to feed, could never have afforded it, although we...
THE LOTUS FLOWER
Mar. 29, 2017—Kelly Perry, ’18, College of Arts and Science, Student VUceptor “Small. Unworthy. Insignificant.” Words I used to describe myself on the 8th of October during my first year at Vanderbilt. I was happy to be here…yet something was missing. I am half-Thai, half-American and had spent my entire life in Chiang Mai, Thailand before moving to...
THE “I” IN MINORITY
Mar. 29, 2017—Bridgette Brown, ’18, Peabody College As I walk into my fourth class of the day, I take a look around the room and notice that I am the Black woman in the room. I take my seat, and I note that this class marks the fourth one to lack students that resembled me. For the past two...
Speak Up!
Mar. 29, 2017—Mianmian Fei, ’19, College of Arts and Science I learned a lot during my first month at Vanderbilt: Pancake Pantry is the best place to get breakfast, oceanography class is about currents and sediments and not fish, and grins is pronounced “greens.” Most of all, though, I learned I should keep my mouth shut. Before...
FROM THE WEST SIDE TO WEST END
Mar. 29, 2017—Kevin Groll, ’16, School of Engineering I came to Vanderbilt from the West Side of Cincinnati, which is best described as a small town. Most residents are second, third, and fourth generation West Siders, and people grow up destined to stay forever. Being a West Sider always gave me a sense of belonging, an identity...
Being Blair
Mar. 29, 2017—Katie Parcelli, ’18, Blair School of Music You may think being a Blair student means you are one of approximately 200 Vanderbilt students who studies music, but it means so much more. It means recognizing every face you see in the hallway. It means you have 30 people in your largest class and as few...