{"id":53,"date":"2017-03-29T00:36:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T00:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/?p=53"},"modified":"2017-05-15T16:15:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T16:15:47","slug":"the-lotus-flower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/2017\/03\/29\/the-lotus-flower\/","title":{"rendered":"THE LOTUS FLOWER"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Kelly Perry, &#8217;18,<\/strong><br \/>\nCollege of Arts and Science, Student VUceptor<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmall. Unworthy. Insignificant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"Tell Your Story\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/t2-my\/my-prd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2446\/2017\/03\/KellyPerry.jpeg\" alt=\"Kelly Perry\" width=\"289\" height=\"426\" \/>Words I used to describe myself on the 8<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0of October during my first year at Vanderbilt. I was happy to be here\u2026yet something was missing.<\/p>\n<p>I am half-Thai, half-American and had spent my entire life in Chiang Mai, Thailand before moving to the U.S. to attend Vanderbilt. On campus, I came to see myself as a gutter \u2013 a space in-between; I didn\u2019t completely identify as an international student, yet I didn\u2019t feel fully American either. I desperately attempted to compartmentalize myself, and make myself fit into one identity or the other, because that was how I thought I\u2019d feel I belonged. When I realized I didn\u2019t fit the mold for any population on campus, I receded into my own shadow. I became quiet. The lotus flower within me shriveled.<\/p>\n<p>My two pillars \u2013 my mother and father \u2013 listened to me as I talked about my shriveled spirit. They gave me a simple cure: water the lotus flower inside \u2013 provide yourself with the space and worth you deserve.<\/p>\n<p>I gave myself one watering, one act of liberation: I told a story, my story.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing significant, just an anecdote I told a hallmate about Loy Kratong, my favorite Thai festival that involves releasing lanterns, yet it made all the difference.<\/p>\n<p>I began to see pride in my position as a gutter \u2013 using my in-between status as a lens to observe and enact change.<\/p>\n<p>I recognized the power of storytelling and wanted to create spaces for others to feel liberated. As a Student VUceptor, I was able to do exactly that within my Visions group. Serving as the International Student Relations Chair on the Multicultural Leadership Council also allowed me to establish\u00a0<em>Lanterns<\/em>, the first-ever international student cohort, with an aim to bridge the gap between international and domestic students through storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>Stories are the fabric that weaves individuals together. They are the most sincere expression of empathy, if one person simply is willing to share their story and another is willing to listen.<\/p>\n<p>I am forever thankful for Vanderbilt\u2019s receptiveness. Thankful for individuals who are willing to listen to a little human like myself. And thankful for the space to allow my lotus flower to bloom. This is only the beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kelly Perry, &#8217;18, College of Arts and Science, Student VUceptor \u201cSmall. Unworthy. Insignificant.\u201d Words I used to describe myself on the 8th\u00a0of October during my first year at Vanderbilt. I was happy to be here\u2026yet something was missing. I am half-Thai, half-American and had spent my entire life in Chiang Mai, Thailand before moving to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[16,32,14,27],"class_list":["post-53","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-awareness","tag-college-of-arts-and-science","tag-mvov17","tag-vu2020","tag-vu2021"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions\/310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/commons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}