New Inside ‘Dores
If you’ve been reading Vanderbilt’s student blog Inside ‘Dores lately, you’ve seen posts about professional bull riding in Nashville, the Malaysian Student Association at Vanderbilt, the optimal schedule for senior year, Alpha Chi house’s annual rafting retreat, a visit to the Tennessee State Fair, and much more. If you haven’t been reading Inside ‘Dores, you’ve really been missing out. Our student bloggers are working hard to chronicle their Vanderbilt experiences for you, and they’re a great group of writers. I highly recommend you check it out.
This year, we’re happy to welcome seven new student bloggers to the Inside ‘Dores team. This talented group of writers will join our other 17 student bloggers to share their diverse interests and unique perspectives with you. I’m very excited to see these new writers begin contributing to the Inside ‘Dores blog.
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Alisha Newton Peabody College Class of 2017 Charlotte, NC |
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Anthony Maina School of Engineering Class of 2017 Nairobi, Kenya |
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Musbah Shaheen College of Arts & Science Class of 2017 Homs, Syria |
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Anne Walker College of Arts & Science Class of 2017 Marion, MA |
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Logan Keller College of Arts & Science Class of 2017 Dallas, TX |
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Hunter Imlay College of Arts & Science Class of 2016 Hurricane, UT |
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Lauren Jackson College of Arts & Science Class of 2017 Columbia, KY |
We gathered together as a group this week, veteran and newbies alike, for a start-of-the-semester kickoff. Blog co-editors Victoria Barner and Eileen Robinson imparted wisdom and inspiration, while content editor and technical guru Nathan Hall led the group through a WordPress tutorial. Erica Graff, herself a content editor, shared some blogging dos and don’ts and told a great story about how a blog post on her sister’s VU acceptance made her sister a mini-celebrity among her first-year classmates.
Our new bloggers will begin contributing soon, and I hope you’ll read what they have to say. In the meantime, as a preview of what you can expect from this group, we asked each blogger to explain why he or she chose Vanderbilt. These are some excerpts.
Anne: “When I came down to Nashville for my visit, I knew right away that this was the school for me. Every quality which I had been looking for in a school was somehow embodied by Vanderbilt’s campus, atmosphere, program and location.”
Musbah: “Because I am an international student, I wanted to go to a university where I would feel like home, as well as be academically challenged. I chose Vandy because it has the perfect combination of both. The amount of support I got from different members of the Vanderbilt society after I got in was inspirational.”
Hunter: “Vanderbilt has everything I could ever ask for in a college: incredible academics, a stunning campus, intelligent students, a great location, state-of-the-art facilities, and much more. For me, the question was never why SHOULD I go to Vanderbilt; it was why SHOULDN’T I?”
Alisha: “When I started the college search my junior year, I slowly devised a list of essential qualities or “musts.” [. . .] large enough to offer a wide range of opportunities and activities, yet small enough to feel like a community; diverse student population; reputation for academic rigor and selectivity; opportunity to earn a double major; study abroad and service learning; campus ministries; ‘green’ initiatives; internship opportunities [. . .] Vanderbilt has it all, and there’s more: Nashville!”
Heather: “Vanderbilt was the only school that I felt would truly allow me to grow into someone I wanted to be. The Top 20 academics caught my eye, the beautiful campus drew me in, but there’s this vibe here that I never felt anywhere else. There’s an energy that I don’t believe can be matched by any other school anywhere else on the planet. Once I felt it, I couldn’t wait to be a part of this school.”
Logan: “As someone who applied to 13 schools, I learned to organize my pros and cons of each college. [. . .] A quick tour to campus and a day in Nashville secured my decision. Vanderbilt has so much to offer, and the more I learned about the school, the more excited I was to be a Commodore.”
Anthony: “I spent a great deal of time during my senior year trying to figure what I really wanted in my life and what sort of experience would shape me into the person I would best like to become. Four major things came to mind: excellent academic programs, diverse student body, dedication to community service and emphasis on social and professional student development. Vanderbilt represented a perfect union of these four aspects and this appealed to me in a way that no other university did.”