Welcoming the Class of 2023
If you know me in the slightest, you know that I spend a great deal of my time at Vanderbilt thinking about the first-year experience and how to improve it. That is why I’m involved with VUcept, our first-year mentorship program on campus. Every year, VUceptors help new students orient themselves to campus when they arrive, and continue to meet with small groups over the course of most of fall semester. It is an incredible program, and one with which I’m happy to be affiliated.
Because of my love of the first-year experience at Vanderbilt, move-in day feels like a national holiday. We have a VUceptor pep rally at 6:30 am that morning, and all trek over to the Ingram Commons where we welcome new students and answer any questions throughout the day. It is such a fun opportunity, and as a senior this year I feel as though I have come full circle. As a member of the executive board, I don’t actually have a small group of first-years assigned to me like the other VUceptors, so I spent my morning following VUceptors on their visits and reminiscing on my time as a first-year.
Since move-in day, there has been a great deal of programming for the new students, including an Honor Code signing and academic integrity training, a performance surrounding struggles they may face at college, and a celebration for all of the new students at the Frist Art Museum. And today will be another fun Vanderbilt activity – Anchor Dash – where first-years rush the football field before our first home football game against Georgia.
I love Vanderbilt, and I love welcoming new students to our campus. If you have any questions about the first-year experience or life at Vanderbilt in general, feel free to email me at alex.rains@vanderbilt.edu.