This is an important post, but mostly just because I love turkey.

Wow, I haven't posted on here in over a month. I suppose that merits a long update, right?
So a few Vandy-related thoughts:
1) I think I have finally decided upon my major. After more than a year of telling people, "Oh--I'm Undecided," I've finally chosen to double major in American Studies and English. I talked to the director of the AMST program last week and she was really great; the day after I went to her office and declared, she sent a personalized note to my campus mailbox telling me how excited she was that I want to major in AMST and that she was available to help me at any time. How nice is that? So now I just need to do the paperwork for English when I get back to campus after Thanksgiving break. But, if you're reading this post right now and either one of these majors sounds interesting to you, I'd encourage you to go here and/or here.
2) I found out that I'm going to be an Alternative Spring Break participant! ASB is a program that was started at Vandy but has actually spread to colleges all over the country, and it encourages students to go on service trips during spring break. Vandy ASB is HUGE--there are 37 groups this year, with 10-12 students each, and they are going to different locations all over the country...and even to Mexico and Canada! My site is going to be in McCreary County, Kentucky. My group and I will be building houses to help fight poverty. I'm very excited :)
3) Fall on campus is perhaps our best season. The fall foliage is amazing and beautiful and cannot be described in words. I've used my cell phone to take several pictures of the trees on Vandy's campus just in the last week. As my friend Kathleen said to me a couple of weeks ago, "I cannot understand how anyone could come to Vandy on a day like today and NOT want to go here." Ponder that, my friends. Ponder that.
4) Thanksgiving break is God's gift to undergrads. After a horrible round of tests, papers, and all-around misery, it feels so wonderful to have a full nine days off during which I can just relax and spend time with my family. Note to prospectives: Not many universities grant their students a full nine days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Take that into consideration. It's of the utmost importance.
5) Speaking of Thanksgiving, I can't wait to eat that glorious meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, corn, etc. on Thursday. My mom always likes to refer to our turkey as "Tom the Turkey"--I still can't decide whether that is funny or strange. But I'm getting off topic. What I wanted to say was, eating turkeys makes me think of my Philosophy class. It's Phil 102, General Logic, but the focus of the course is on Animal Rights. Basically we are learning the principles of logic and arguments so that we can understand the argument for animal rights. It's been a really interesting and mind-broadening course because I've heard a lot of new perspectives--some radical, some not so much--about animals. We've talked a lot about animal testing, vegetarianism, etc., and while the class has not made me want to become a vegetarian, it has certainly made me take into consideration how I treat the animal species as a whole. I also find it very typical of a Vandy class that the things I'm learning are permeating all aspects of my life, including Thanksgiving break. I think that's an awesome thing.

Okay, all finished for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy the time with family & friends!

hotness....and vaca

dude it's like hot again....weird?
FALL BREAK STARTS ON FRIDAY!!!

Soon to be winter?

It's getting cold here now. Saturday it went up to 90 degrees but today it was in the 50s. It was a jeans-and-jacket kind of day. Where on earth did the cold front come from? On the one hand, I'm glad, because it's a nice change to wear jeans and jackets and not have to worry about getting sweaty and gross on your way to class. On the other hand...I miss the warmth! I hope we can salvage a few more days of this "Indian Summer," as my roomie says.

I hope this post will buy me five minutes

AHHHHH i have another huge test tomorrow. Kill me. I don't exactly feel like studying for it.
I went and saw Keely & Du, VU Theater's current play, with my Visions group tonight. It was phenomenal. Fantastic acting. Thought I'd share.

Okay actually the only reason for this post is that I'm trying to procrastinate as much as possible. Thank God it's almost the weekend!

October! yeah!

School is starting to get REALLY busy. I had an Oceanography test today--first one of the semester. My friend Kathleen and I studied for it for eight hours (!!!) last night. That's probably the most I've ever crammed for a test. Then I got up early this morning and studied another two hours. It's all good though, because the test wasn't too bad. I've got another test on Friday and then I should be good for a while. And if you're wondering, no, eight-hour study sessions aren't a regular occurrence. No worries.
I have to admit though....despite the late-night study sessions, life is good right now. I love the advent of fall here. Family weekend was this past weekend, and I'm happy to say that my family came up from Atlanta to be here with me. We went out to dinner with all of my friends and their parents...you can imagine how big our reservation was. We had a really fun time though!
Now October is here and I'm just delighted ("just delighted"???). Really though, October is such a great month--perfect weather, Homecoming, fall break, Halloween (I think I'll be a pirate this year), etc. Annnnd I'm super excited because the JukeBYX party is on Saturday night!!! For all those not familiar with the Van-day lingo, BYX (Pronounced "bucks") is the Christian Fraternity here, and every year they throw a 90's dance party which consists of 90s music (Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, pretty much everything from the middle school era), slap bracelets, Capri Suns for all, and lots of people in 90s-themed costumes (last year I saw a bunch of girls dressed up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). All in all I'm super excited for this party.

Hmmm...long update, eh? Well maybe I'll post again later this week.
Yeahhhh October!

Ocean Lab Extraordinaire

I usually have my Oceanography lab on Monday afternoons. Today was a special lab day, however, because we went on a field trip!!! To Percy Priest Lake. It was awesome. The objective was to collect water samples from the lake and then use those samples to generate information about pH level, temperature, etc., but overall the trip was just fun. My lab class and lab T.A. got on this big boat that fit all 20 of us and sailed out into the middle of the lake. It was beautiful! And the actual work part (my task was to collect water samples) only took about two minutes. Literally. What a great day :)

Annnnd the rest of my day was spent hanging with my friends and eating dinner at The Commons. They serve really good vegetables there. It makes me feel good about myself when I eat vegetables.
Now I have to knock out some homework.

peace.

Hmmm

So. Apparently I'm going to be a regular blogger for VU admissions now. Yayyyy! Well I would post something more about myself, but for now, I think my "audition blog" will suffice. I wrote this about two weeks ago, I think. Have a look.

So it’s two in the morning and I have my first anthropology quiz tomorrow, but I haven’t studied for it. Actually, I haven’t even completed a quarter of the reading I was supposed to have done for this quiz. So I’m probably going to fail it. Well, actually, no…I won’t fail it, because I’ll study at lunch tomorrow and maybe I’ll get a just-passing sort of grade. Do I care, though? Not really. Last year at this time I probably would have freaked out about this little mess I’ve gotten myself into, but this year, not so much. And why is that?

It’s amazing what one year can teach you. First of all, there’s the beauty of that one promise from the professor: “I will drop your lowest quiz grade.” Can we all take a moment to appreciate the awesomeness of this gift? It’s like your professors know that LIFE gets in the way of college. Who knew. And so I’m banking on this get-out-of-jail-free card and promising myself that I will complete all future readings before subsequent quizzes.

Aside from that, though, it’s the realization that college is about more than class. Okay, yeah, classes are the main reason why we go to college. Our parents shell out 50 grand a year so we can go to a great university, learn from some truly inspiring and caring professors, and leave four years later knowing a hell of a lot more than we did as freshmen. But I’ve finally understood lately what people mean when they talk about learning in a holistic sense. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE SCHOOLWORK! Can I truly say that I’ve learned a lot from my classes and professors? The answer to that is an emphatic “yes.” But I can also say that I have learned so, so, so much more about myself and people and life in general just by being here at Vanderbilt.

“Being here at Vanderbilt.” What exactly does that entail? I think it’s about putting yourself out there. I got here last year and immersed myself in all sorts of activities. I had no idea what I was doing. I just kinda jumped right into that huge Extracurriculars swimming pool and somehow I didn’t drown. I trained at the school radio station, even though I know nothing about independent music. I applied to be a tour guide and I thought my interview went horribly, but I was accepted and now I’ve been giving tours for about six months. I tried out some writing for the school magazine, ended up interviewing a dean, and now he’s my faculty partner for VUcept.

All of these activities, all of the people I’ve met, all of those times I put myself outside my comfort zone: They have to count for something. And they do. Those are the kinds of things you learn from. Really learn from. And the great thing about being at Vandy is…people here realize this fact! Are we all smart kids? Yes. But more importantly, we are all smart kids who realize that life is about much more than books, class, and studying. It’s about stretching yourself, doing something new, getting involved with activities that you aren’t necessarily graded on. Consider my roommate, who is now teaching bible school at a local church, or my friend across the hall, who’s not going to be here for Family Weekend because she’s going on a trip with Vandy Model UN, or my best guy friend, who just landed a spot in a research lab because he loves biology and wants to learn more about it. And how about one of my VUceptees, who just got a part in the school musical? Those sorts of things are just as important as grades…at least in my book.

It’s two in the morning and I feel great.

Yep, so, that was my audition blog. Cheesy? Yes. Truthful? Yes. Did I pass the Anthro quiz? Yes.

I'll post more later!