Back in the Swing of Things
We’ve only been on campus for 2 weeks, but it feels like forever. I don’t mean that as a bad thing. It’s an awesome thing to feel as if you’ve never quite left somewhere. For me, this means somewhere is like home. And definitely, coming back to Vandy as a sophomore feels like coming home, to a place where I feel at ease and happy. I do enjoy being home with my family, but being here is different. The pace of life is much more dynamic: always friends around, fun activities to do, sleep to not get because there are better things to do… These first few weeks on campus have been incredible, and I know people always say freshman year is fun, which it was, but I think time just gets better as you go along. That’s how high school felt for me, too. I guess I’m lucky that life seems to keep getting better.
Here are some sophomore year experiences so far:
- My classes: Bio with lab, Organic chem with lab, French lit medieval through Enlightenment, and Food in the Ancient World (fun fact, I ran into my bio professor at CVS the same day I went to his office hours, so he recognized me and now we’re pretty much buds).
- Living arrangement: Lewis House on Highland Quad, right by the Rec, 4 person suite (2 doubles, kitchen, living room, bathroom); it has been a literal blast, my suite mates are all great girls, we study together and have fun together, especially with super fun neighbors who we have movie nights, dinners, and go swing dancing with
- Exploring Nashville: funny how I’ve probably gone outside of campus more frequently these past few weeks than I did in like a whole month or 2 last year; really great to take advantage of all this phenomenal city has to offer, such as delicious restaurants and free concerts!
- Solar Eclipse: Such an unreal experience, I had some friends visit from out of town, and we watched this supernatural event together, Vandy kids and out of town friends alike
- Student health: I was sick last week (as we all get to be in such close quarters – yay college!), and student health was so convenient and helpful to help me get over it
- Organizations: it’s great already having activities that I was in from last year, but also finding out about a lot of other campus activities. I’m in Glamour Gals, Project Sunshine, VSVS, hopefully others soon!
- People: so fun seeing friends from last year and making new friends as well! This is a big part of why I love being a student here, you get to be surrounded by so many amazing people all the time! Never boring!
Overall, all these elements together produce a feeling of picking up where we left off, which is unparalleled. Freshman year was wonderful, but when you come back, you already have some type of routine figured out, already have great friends, already know how you study and work best, and more importantly, you feel as if you’re coming home. The uncertainty that freshman year held was priceless, but the familiarity of coming back is just as well. So excited to see what this year has in store!