‘Academics’
Billy Collins at Vanderbilt
Sep. 18, 2011—Wednesday evening, I had the opportunity to dine with the 2001-2003 poet laureate, Billy Collins. This awesome opportunity was part of an event called Dinner and a Draft, which is put on by The Writing Studio and open to all students, particularly first years. I was excited that as a sophomore I still got the...
I Survived Test Round 1
Sep. 14, 2011—Classes are hard. That is not to say that they aren’t interesting or fun, but classes here definitely require a lot of effort. With that being said, it usually happens that all of your professors have a meeting before the semester starts so that they can choose a week to test you. They all give...
Declaring a Major
Sep. 7, 2011—In the College of Arts and Science, students must declare a major by the end of sophomore year. As of last week, I am officially a Neuroscience major.
Kisslammed
Aug. 30, 2011—One of the oldest housing areas of Vanderbilt campus is Kissam Quad. Colloquially, Vanderbilt students refer to the process of getting relegated to this housing as being “kisslammed”. In fact, this year is the last year of Kissam Quad’s existence, as the buildings are being torn down next year to make way for a new...
Small Groups in BIG Classes
Aug. 30, 2011—Vanderbilt is a medium to small private research institution. We have an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio, with over 3,000 full-time faculty members. 81% of classes have less than 30 students and 92% have less than 50 students. Like most schools, however, entry level science courses (the pre-med requirements) often have around 200 students. Don’t fret, though....
Back to School
Aug. 25, 2011—After two days of classes, my nerdy side is coming out again. I love my classes.
Research Experience at Vanderbilt
Aug. 3, 2011—Earlier this week, I completed my summer research experience at Vanderbilt through the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE). I worked mainly on a biology project that dealt with signal transduction in the social amoeboid Dictyostelium discoideum.
My Friend the Pre-Med
Jul. 25, 2011—Did you know that Vanderbilt’s Class of 2014 represents 48 of the 50 states, in addition to representing various countries around the world? This past week, one of my best friends from Vanderbilt took a family vacation to Miami Beach, so I got to have a mini reunion!
No Ceilings: James Franklin’s Debut
Jul. 23, 2011—The Southeastern Conference (SEC) Media Days came to a conclusion in Hoover, Alabama on Friday afternoon with James Franklin fielding questions from a room full of a few hundred media reporters and personalities. Franklin sounded excited and committed to the job ahead. It has been a whirlwind for the new Commodore head football coach as...
Summer Part I
Jun. 25, 2011—Summer has been great so far. I left Vandy soon after classes ended and returned to my hometown of Auburn, Alabama. It was great to see old friends and share college experiences from our previous semesters at various schools. Overall, it was a very enjoyable and relaxing three weeks at home.