A Window like No Other
Friday mornings tend to be a very meditative, calming time for me. I wake up thinking about where the week started and where it’s likely to end, what was accomplished and what’s left standing, and – this is always my favorite – how I’m going to spend my weekend. (In case you’re curious, this particular one involves soaking up the last hints of summer on Tims Ford Lake and seeing one of my favorite new-ish bands, Beach House, at Marathon Music Works.) I also look forward to Friday mornings because this is typically my time to catch up on Inside ‘Dores, admissions’ student-run, student-written blog that gives readers a window into over twenty different Vanderbilt experiences at any given time.
Today’s reading was especially fun because of all the great content on the blog from our newest contributors, who have written with a thoughtfulness and candor that affirms a principle I touched on earlier this week – that there are certain aspects of the Vanderbilt experience only a current student can convey. Rachael Grenfell-Dexter wrote about how her Gene Kelly obsession and a trip to nearby Belcourt Theatre helped subdue the impact of the many rain-drenched days we experienced recently; Bonnie Bo Yeon Ihn wrote about the importance of slowing down amid the bustle of a demanding academic schedule to appreciate the little things that make Vanderbilt a great place to attend college; Cassandra Mychalowycz reflected on life in Gillette House, and how it will always feel like “home” to her; Julianne Connors provided a solid list of things she missed about Vanderbilt while away this past summer; and Luke Anapolis took to the blog to introduce himself and to unpack for us why he decided to transfer to Vanderbilt from another top university.
Though I (along with a few admissions counselors) work with the bloggers in an organizational sense, I never know what will greet me content-wise when I click over to the blog, which is always exciting. And today I was reminded about the importance of this aspect of our outreach. I hope you’ll spend some time getting to know these students through their work during your search process – whether they’ve been contributing for years or days, each of them signed on to detail their journeys for us, and I for one can’t wait to see where those journeys take us next.