Cultural Awareness Category
TOKENISM
Mar. 29, 2017—Lauren Pak, ’17, Peabody College As the daughter of first generation immigrants, coming from a high school where over half the students spoke a language other than English at home, my transition to a rather homogenous college campus where my ethnic immigrant experience was in the minority, was difficult. During a discussion section in my...
MICROAGGRESSIONS
Mar. 29, 2017—Aaditi Naik, ’18 College of Arts and Science With debates on freedom of speech throughout the last year, I’ve watched this campus struggle with microagressions again and again. These conversations can’t capture the reality of microaggressions– the subtle, nuanced sexism from a professor or peer. It’s so easy for people to tell me to let these things...
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...
ACCESSIBILITY: PHYSICAL AND OTHERWISE
Mar. 29, 2017—Jesse Bennett, ’19, College of Arts and Science I thought I would have an easier time adjusting to Vanderbilt than most students. I grew up in Green Hills, after all, and attended USN, minutes away from The Commons. Still, I found a campus that was more challenging, exciting, and rewarding than anything I could have...
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...