A Day in the Life of a Blair Student
This past Thursday, during an hour break between class and marching band rehearsal, I went to the Turner Recital Hall at the Blair School of Music. Music students are selected weekly to perform at student recitals. One of my roommates is a harp performance major and was asked to perform a piece for the performance. So, naturally my friend and I went to support her.
One unique aspect of these student recitals is that attendance is mandatory for all Blair students. Attendance counts as a class that they need to fulfill for their curriculum. While the weekly obligation seems like a hassle, I think it helps form the strong community that Blair is. As the smallest undergraduate school at Vanderbilt, Blair students are able to get to know one another far more extensively than students in the other undergraduate schools. I think it’s great that they support one another every week.
Since I am in marching band, I have met a lot of Blair students that I normally would never have crossed paths with. When asking them about their curriculum, I have found that Vanderbilt not only has a great music program, but they also are very flexible. I have met over ten music majors who are also on a pre-medicine track. In fact, my roommate is a harp performance major who plans to attend Pharmacy school after graduating. They chose to come to Vanderbilt because it was one of the few schools which gave them the option to pursue both career tracks. The Blair School of Music does not make you compromise between two different dreams for your future.
This past student recital was the first one I have been to since attending Vanderbilt. I can definitely say I will be back for another one. While recital attendance is not mandatory for me, you can expect to see me there often, trying to fit in with the Blair gang!