Author
Memoirs or How I Learned to Write About Other People
Dec. 16, 2013—This semester I had the pleasure of taking an intermediate nonfiction workshop with Sandy Solomon. Centered on memoir- and profile-writing, we became acquainted with the craft of “writing about other people.” I have had my fair share of journaling enterprises, but they all came to sad untimely demises a few entries after their inception. This...
My First American Thanksgiving
Dec. 8, 2013—I’ve had the privilege of experiencing quite a large number of American things over the past year and four months. One notable thing I didn’t get the chance to do last year, however, was celebrate an authentic American Thanksgiving. I had spent Thanksgiving break with a friend from back home, and the true spirit of...
Declaring your major!
Dec. 7, 2013—Even though I still had an entire semester to ponder the heavy, eternal life questions (which include but are unfortunately not limited to, “What am I going to do after I graduate?”) and declare a major (it has to happen before spring break of your sophomore year) I decided, earlier this semester, to seize the...
Good Morning, We’re Your Tour Guides
Dec. 7, 2013—Giving tours is one of my favorite things to do on campus. Not only do I get a chance to stand in front of a crowd of prospective students and their parents and younger siblings (and sometimes their uncles, cousins, and grandparents) and tell them all the ways in which Vanderbilt is the awesome school...
Melo Cyrus
Dec. 6, 2013—Perhaps even more daunting than the prospect of imminent papers and finals was The Melodores‘ annual winter concert. The couple of weeks leading up to (even Thanksgiving break, to an extent) had been rather taxing, to be honest, and juggling rehearsals and classes was becoming increasingly difficult. I was also, however, incredibly excited. Our practices...
Chin Up, Anchor Down
Sep. 17, 2013—Luckily I have yet to succumb to the sophomore slump, and looking back at the last month or so, I actually could not be happier to be back in this place of intellectual and social vitality, where racial appropriation in the latest pop music video is typical breakfast conversation, and long nights are trekked in...
Chin Up
May. 3, 2013—So this is it. Overweight suitcases and hastily stuffed duffel bags line the hallway. Parents scurry around, last minute packing ensues. Someone inevitably loses a something – a room key, a microwave, a Kindle. It’s all quite cacophonic, but a singular bleakness pervades the air. As the freshmen – or should I say the rising...
A (Not So) Melo Goodbye
Apr. 27, 2013—For most of us, this is our last weekend at Vanderbilt, decidedly one of stressful cramming, overnighters hauled along successive nights of insurmountable worry and an endless supply of our favorite Bongo Java coffee, and the prospect of imminent leaving. I will be following up later this week with some final thoughts on my freshman...
Time is a Fickle Thing
Apr. 12, 2013—It really is. Waiting until you slip into a comfortable pace of undulating routine, it creeps up, unbeknownst to you, and assaults you with all its might, leaving you dazed and confused, so much so that you can’t wonder what has happened, and all you can do is lament the fact that as soon as...
Reflections and Prospects (Spring 2013)
Mar. 4, 2013—There’s something exquisitely comforting about a sitting room with a grand piano dominating one side and a heap of quintessential American snacks in the center, ringed by a ragtag bunch of musicians and one Lebanese kid. This is the second night I spend in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and while cheese puffs, Chex Mix, and Ale81...