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Off Campus Study Date

Last week my friend Ali and I both had a lot of work to do for two of our classes that we have together. Lucky for us, one of said 3-hour classes had been cancelled for the day, leaving both of us with no class and a lot of free time to work. However, rather than settling down in one of our normal study spots in one of Vandy’s many libraries, we decided to venture off campus to study somewhere new.

Ali had told me of a magical Starbucks located in Green Hills, an area of Nashville a short drive away from campus. We hopped in her car and set off on our adventure. While the Starbucks wasn’t necessarily “magical,” it proved to be a nice place to study! With our coffees in hand we set to work and were able to maintain our focus for a significant chunk of time. The whir of the coffee machines and quiet chatter of other customers was just enough background noise to keep us energized.

After working for a solid 4 hours and accomplishing most of our tasks, Ali and I decided that we deserved a break. We headed across the street to Green Hills Mall. Now, let me tell you: I have been to a lot of shopping malls in my days, but I must say that Green Hills is one of my favorites. It has enough stores that there is something for everyone, and all of the people I have interacted with who work there have been warm and friendly. We browsed through a few stores to give ourselves a mental break, then decided to head back to campus for dinner.

Here's a picture of the inside of the mall-isn't it beautiful?!

For dinner we chose to go to Vandy’s newest addition to the meal plan: Pi and Leaf. Pi and Leaf is a cleverly named salad and pizza restaurant. In the “Pi” side they rotate between several specialty pizzas each day, but they always have good ol’ cheese and pepperoni. On the “Leaf” side they have a variety of salads you can choose from such as a Greek or Mexican salad, or you can make your own. They also have delicious cheesy bread and fantastic desserts (and by fabulous I mean they have tiramasu and cannolis. What.). We both enjoyed some yummy salads while reminiscing about our fun day spent off campus.

As much as I love Vanderbilt, sometimes it is nice to get off campus for awhile and enjoy a change of scenery. With so many fun things to do so close to campus, it is easy to have fun and experience Nashville without having to travel ridiculously far to do so. My day spent in Green Hills was a much needed break before getting into the swing of finals!