The First Few Weeks
My name is Erica Graff, from Miami Beach, Florida, and I am one of the new student bloggers here at Vanderbilt. I am a first-year student in the College of Arts and Science, with an undecided major but the intention of going ‘pre-med.’
Over the past month, I have completely transformed from a scared and shy newbie into a completely acclimated college student. The Vanderbilt community has done an outstanding job of welcoming its new members and I could not be happier. On my third day here, I was already referring to my dorm as home, (sorry Mom and Dad).
I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the best thing that happened to me this month: I went to my first football game. Vanderbilt has a rich tradition when it comes to football. Girls wear sundresses while boys wear ties and boat shoes. As a die-hard football fan, I was totally repulsed by the thought of wearing a sundress to a game. I couldn’t imagine not sporting all of my Vanderbilt gear to the game. But I’m here to embrace this school and ALL of its culture. So I wore a sundress, and I looked better than I’ve looked all semester (sorry, I’m just being honest). I realized that it really doesn’t matter what you wear. It matters more how loud you cheer and how long you stay. Vanderbilt lost by 2 but I can proudly say that I stayed until the end. The best part of the entire night was coming back to the dorm and seeing some of my football player friends. We talked about the game and I was able to give them my advice-since I’m the all-knowing, die-hard fan.
That day, I learned the importance of leaving your comfort zone every once in a while. Vanderbilt definitely has a unique culture and I feel honored to take part in it.