Intellect Category
Come as You Are
Sep. 23, 2019—Ellie Miller, ’22, Arts and Science I didn’t quite know what to expect coming to Vanderbilt. I was from a small town in Kansas, with endless fields that outlined the city and buildings no higher than Sarratt. College seemed like such an extreme adjustment and I didn’t know if I would meet the expectations of...
Equilibrium
Feb. 1, 2019—Shruti Anant,’21, Arts & Sciences At one point in my second semester at Vanderbilt, I was surrounded by equilibrium. In general chemistry, we learned about chemical equilibrium, describing the balance of reactants and products in a chemical reaction with the equilibrium constant ‘K’. In neuroscience, Dr. Smith gave a lecture on the equilibrium potential of...
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...
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...
Constant Conversations
Apr. 27, 2017—Audrey Glover, ’19 College of Arts and Sciences, Writing Studio Consultant I took every single paper I wrote freshman year to the writing studio. I loved having the space to talk about and improve my own work and have someone engage deeply with my ideas. It wasn’t until a consultant once encouraged me to apply...
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...
DUBLIN, DOOR STEPS, AND DUFFLE BAGS: REFLECTIONS ON STUDY ABROAD
Mar. 29, 2017—Hannah Laskey, ’17, Peabody College, Student VUceptor I first wanted to go abroad for the places; I never wanted to leave because of the people. Yes, our weekend trip to Barcelona was awesome. Hitting up Rome, Athens, and Warsaw during reading week was once in a lifetime. And nothing could beat the scenic Irish countryside. While studying...
The Greatest Success
Mar. 29, 2017—Angel Rajendran, ’18 , Peabody College I don’t know who first planted that seed in my head. The seed that whispered to me that success was a two-syllable title in front of my last name that made me a doctor, but I never really questioned it. My whole life, I heard my parents, teachers and...
Engineering: My Spanish Connection
Mar. 29, 2017—Alexander Plevka, ’17, School of Engineering An engineering student operates under the assumption of limitations. We are constrained by cost, time, materials, dimensions, force, weight, shear moduli – you get the point. We are taught in classes that technical problems are just that – technical. They are presented and solved in a nicely wrapped...