Bring On the Fall
So, there are two things that I know I’m not: 1) A morning person and 2) a fan of cold weather. Today, I faced my fears.
After years of reporting to class at 8 am in high school, I made a point of arranging my own schedule this semester so that I don’t have a class before 11am during the week. For some reason though, I was unusually motivated this morning. I woke up at 7am and ran to the Rec Center with my friend to work out, you know, the casual elliptical run, light lifting (if you count 5 pound weights) and a menagerie of ab workouts that look really stupid and complicated when you do them.
On my walk back to Branscomb, I decided I had a ton of time before my class, so I walked over the Bruegger’s Bagels on 21st Avenue for breakfast. Bruegger’s is actually part of Vandy Dining’s Taste of Nashville, which means you can pay by just swiping your Commodore Card. As I walked across campus in my new Vanderbilt sweatshirt and Nike running shorts, I couldn’t help shiver a little bit at the cold as I realized: Fall has finally arrived in Nashville (ugh). Nevertheless, I’m a huge fan of the Nashville weather–it was 80 degrees yesterday in late September. In fact, it was so warm last weekend that I went “pontooning” for a day with the Sigma Nu fraternity. For those not familiar with pontoon boats, the ones we rent here in Nashville have two levels–a bottom level and a top deck– a grill, a waterslide off the back and seating for up to sixteen people! 
Anyway, as I picked up my pace towards my bagel breakfast, I was a little sad to think that my favorite warm weather was fading fast. My timing was perfect–the plain bagels were still hot and they had light cream cheese today–but I still had a lot of time before class. What now? …Coffee! As a sophomore, I’d been deprived of the many coffee options the Commons has to offer, and since I was so close, I figured I would take a quick stroll over to that part of campus for only my second time this year. I’m an Arts & Science kid, so I rarely have classes or extracurricular activities that take me over to Peabody Campus (where the Commons is located) and I was a little excited to go visit!
The Iris Cafe is located in Peabody library, my favorite study spot on campus, and is an on-campus installment of Provence, a local Nashville Original restaurant. I always get either Peppermint Patty (white chocolate mint) or a Nutty Turtle (chocolate, caramel & hazelnut), but the most popular drink is a skim vanilla latte, known as the Vandy Girl, which is a little offensive, but whatever. Today felt like a Nutty Turtle day to me.
I got a little carried away in my nostalgic state and started to walk back to West House, my home away from home last year. I really do miss Commons and whenever I go back I just get wrapped up in all the crazy, hilarious memories from freshman year. There is honestly nothing like living on Commons and after three years of living in dorms at boarding school, you can trust me on this. I am still ridiculously close to everyone who lived in West with me last year–there were 120 of us! Also, you get to meet so many fellow freshmen just because you live so close and you’re always interacting with everyone and meeting new people. Sophomore year is just so different, in a good way though and it does have it’s perks–I know the ropes now, the dorms are closer to everything, the rooms are nicer, etc. The list goes on and on.
So, with my bagel and coffee in hand, I strolled back to Branscomb for a shower and a quick episode of Grey’s Anatomy on Hulu before class. It’s only 10:42 as I’m sitting here writing this and I’ve worked out, grabbed breakfast, visited Commons, showered and watched a full TV episode. Maybe I am a pretty good morning person after all. I might have to do this more often…