The End… For Now
Today, I officially finished my third semester at Vanderbilt University. Over the course of this semester, I’ve had more fun than I ever thought possible, surrounded by some of the best people I know. Here are some of this semester’s highlights:
A huge highlight was that this was my first semester as a Vanderbilt tour guide! Vandy guides is one of my favorite student organizations because, not only are the tour guides responsible for showing prospective students the cool things we love about Vanderbilt, but the Vandy guides community is very warm and welcoming. Since becoming a tour guide I have found a comfortable group of kids on campus that genuinely feel excited about every day they get to live here.
A second highlight was my Understanding Organizations class. This year, through the HOD major, one of my classes was titled Understanding Organizations. The first day of class, our crazy qualified professor Dr. Fraser explained to us that we would be looking at organizations through a social justice lens- that is, we would be evaluating the effectiveness of organizations with some sort of social component. Over the course of the semester, we worked to understand the factors that contribute to organizational success, such as a cohesive company culture, and a variety of ways social initiatives manifest themselves, such as cooperative markets and social entrepreneurial endeavors. Seeing as I may want to go on to work for a nonprofit, this was very helpful for me and a variety of other HOD students past and present.
A final, and relatively recent, highlight was our family Secret Santa: Now this is not referring to my real family, but instead to a group of friends I’ve done secret Santa with for the past two years. When I got to Vanderbilt, I did not think I was going to be lucky enough to find my people right away. Now three semesters later, I am amazed that I have found kids I have gotten so close to that we’ve gone on such adventures as: California road trips, week-long forays in Manhattan, climbing weekends throughout the Southeastern United States, and a spring break spent back at my Florida home. I have the Commons to thank for uniting many of us, as most of us lived in East House together last year. The Vanderbilt community is something special, and something I will miss immensely when I return home for a Florida Christmas.
This semester has been ridiculously fun, and I know I for one am excited for the months to come. Going back to our childhood homes this holiday season, I know we here on Vanderbilt campus are ALL excited for the early January days when we will be returning to our real homes, the ones we share here in Nashville, once again.