My Shout-out (or How to be an Inside ‘Dore)
Applications for first-year students to be Inside Dores bloggers are due today at 4:00 pm! I have few illusions that this article will be of assistance to applicants at such a late hour (if I even finish this before the deadline), but I decided this was a good occasion to write about being an undergraduate admissions blogger.
The original job description (paraphrased): Write short articles (minimum 8 per semester) describing experiences as a Vanderbilt student and answering questions that prospective students may have about going to school here. Try to include a few links per article, at least one picture, and make sure to use the “categories” and “tags” so the page is more accessible to relevant searches.
What I actually do: Write vaguely lengthy articles (as many as I can) describing whatever the heck I want. Include many links with funny captions, blurry pictures of myself or of things around me (from when I remember I have a camera), and cater to an audience made (seemingly) of my parents, friends, and Vanderbilt teachers (none of whom are applying to the school). Best job ever!
Interesting Fact: Turns out when I write salient and well-planned articles (I made that plural but it’s a stretch cause I’ve totally only ever done that twice), it’s such a historic event that @VanderbiltU, the University’s Twitter account, takes notice. What’s super cool about this is not only that the University recognized me personally (for the first and last time), but also that I originally titled this article in reference to another shout-out I received yesterday from the Admissions Department! Turns out this school was looking for a blogger just like me all along.
With all seriousness, though, I view this blog not only as an outlet for my suppressed inner writer, but as a chance to be a normal human being with quirks and frustrations – Something more genuine and easier to relate to than the smiling brochure people. I hope I can come off that way to prospective students, because, in the end, coming to school isn’t going to be perfect. College has its super-fun times, but it’s also the source of a lot of anger, hard work, and a lot of confusion. Being able to read about these experiences, I think, is more valuable than anything I can tell you about housing or food at Vanderbilt, because the school’s website covers that better than I can.
Here’s hoping you find the human connection.
