‘VU2021’
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...