Archives for March 2018

This semester, I pursued my passion for mental health resources on campus by joining VSG’s Health and Wellness Committee. Especially with the transition of mental health care at Vanderbilt to the University Counseling Center system, many students–including myself–have been concerned by First-year’s current accessibility to campus resources. Beyond meeting an ambitious group of my peers on this committee, I began to realize the potential for VSG to initiate change on campus, even on the committee level. Recognizing that First-years may not know where resources are located or may want a more discrete way to be exposed to certain resources, a VSG subcommittee, lead by Senior Rachel Smith, answered the call, choosing to initiate a satellite program for these resources now known as “Commons Connect”.

This is Rachel Smith, leader of the Commons Connect Initiative.

“In an early meeting last semester, the idea dawned on us not only to have the CSW present on Commons, but other resources as well. My mind immediately jumped to the Office of LGBTQI Life, because I personally found support from the director, Chris Purcell, early in my college career. We began to assemble a list of offices we thought could be represented on The Commons, and we plan for it to grow in the coming semesters. Countless meetings later, we have the framework for a consistent locale for first-year students to find members of their support system.”

Smith has found her own support system within the campus resources at Vanderbilt and hopes that other First-year will have same exposure to the communities that she did as an underclassman. After months of work and coordination with various resource directors, Smith and her team have completed an initiative many have waited years for.

“Saying more about my experience with Chris Purcell, it is important to find people who push you. To pick yourself up after you fall, to create better conditions for yourself, to be fair to yourself and others. Sometimes, it takes that special person to get you to listen. I want everyone to find their Chris. Maybe your Chris will be that sweet girl you remember meeting in summer Gen Chem, or the compassionate French professor who asks you how you’re doing during office hours and truly means it. Vanderbilt is hard. Being a student here is physically and psychologically taxing. Building your support network is crucial for more than your success- it is critical for your wellbeing. First-years, I hope that you can use Commons Connect as a way to do just this.”

You are welcome to bring any topic you like for discussion, and this service is available to everyone! Consultations will be held on a first come, first served basis and take place in Room 216 (the Study Lounge next to the writing center) in Commons Center.

Current Representatives working with Commons Connect:

Center for Student Wellbeing: Thursdays, 1:00 pm – 2:45 pm

LGBTQI Life: Wednesdays, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center: Tuesdays, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Project Safe: Thursdays, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Note: There will likely be expansions of the services offered and their availability in future semesters.

Article co-authored with Rachel Smith.

This past spring break the majority of our freshman class honored the tradition of spending their first weekend of spring break in the beach houses of Gulf Shores, Alabama. You might have heard the rumors and warnings that everyone dies, or at least leads ends up feeling gross and burnt out by Sunday. Don’t worry because I got you covered. Here’s a few tips you should know before going on the trip:

1. Vanderbilt Takeover

Spring break 2018 sent Commons residents on adventures all across the globe. Here are the stories of how four first-year students spent their week away from school.

Seth Drey

A hurricane may have the power to topple trees and upend lives, but it cannot dampen the spirit of an island or deter a first-year Commodore. Seth Drey spent spring break in Puerto Rico, where residents are still recovering from the category-five hurricane that struck last September.

“We stayed in San Juan and spent a lot of time in Old San Juan and also got out to some cool, more remote places,” he said. “Some places were obviously still affected by Maria… it dropped as much rain in thirty hours as Harvey did over the course of three days and destroyed eighty percent of their agriculture.”

Despite the lasting devastation, Drey found some aspects of the island remained unaltered by the storm.

“The people were super friendly, and there was still lots of beauty in Old San Juan and the nature areas,” he said.

This was Drey’s first time in a Spanish-speaking region, and he valued the chance to utilize his Spanish language skills and experience another culture. He visited a variety of places, from the beach to Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a sixteenth-century fort and world heritage site.

“The weather was so nice, but the sun was unforgiving and burned me bad,” Drey said.

Besides a sunburn, spring break left him with memories of “awesome” Puerto Rican cuisine, crystal-blue ocean waves, and the fun of meeting people from a new corner of the world.

Oliver Cenedella

Spring break isn’t always about chasing warm weather. For Oliver Cenedella, it meant braving the cold and hitting the slopes on a skiing trip in Colorado.

“I live in Boulder, Colorado, and I stayed there for a few days until Tuesday, then met up with three friends from Vandy and went to Breckenridge,” Cenedella said.

The foursome brought a range of experience to the mountains. Cenedella, a seasoned skier, had the chance to share one of his favorite pastimes with a friend who had never skied before. Watching his skills progress beyond the bunny slopes quickly became a rewarding part of the week.

“By the fourth day… we took him down a double black,” Cenedella said. “By the end of the day, he was looking really good.”

The group’s accomplishments did not come without challenges. Some initially had trouble adjusting to the higher elevation and harsh winter climate.

“The elements were not on our side,” Cenedella said.

Despite the drop in air pressure, higher altitude brought more adventure for the four Commodores. In addition to skiing, they went hiking in the mountains. Cenadella discovered a few slopes farther from the lifts, where he described the skiing as “excellent.” He documented his run with a Go Pro camera, a sure way to make this break one to never forget.

Amira Vivrette

It’s “The Big Apple,” “The City That Never Sleeps,” and maybe even “The Greatest City in the World.” Whatever you choose to call it, New York City served as a spring break destination for students like Amira Vivrette.

“I went on different tours with Student Media at Vanderbilt,” Vivrette said. “We saw Facebook, CNN, Nickelodeon, and NBC. It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet and talk with Vanderbilt alumni and see future careers in media.”

After traveling with the Student Media group on Monday and Tuesday, Vivrette stayed in New York for the rest of the week to explore the city with a friend.

“We did a lot of tourist things,” she said. “We got to see Central Park, the Met, the LOVE Sculpture, and other cool things we were interested in. We took the ferry and just tried a bunch of new foods.”

Vivrette had the chance to see more behind-the-scenes work on media productions (while also enjoying a few laughs) when the pair landed tickets to the tapings of “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” Braving the second major winter storm of the week, their ticket numbers were the last two called from the line of people hoping to attend “The Tonight Show.”

“It was very exciting to see the shows produced live… just to see it done and then watch it on TV the next day to see how everything worked out,” Vivrette said. “It was cool to see all that stuff from the media tour actually put into action.”

Sharonda Adams

Vanderbilt proudly hosts the first Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program, an idea created in 1986 that has since spread to universities across the country. ASB provides students with the opportunity to participate in service projects during their break, all working on different causes in various locations nationwide.

Sharonda Adams traveled to Utah last week on an ASB trip focused on environmental conservation.

“For my trip, I helped to remove invasive species from the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument,” Adams said. “I camped with eleven other Vanderbilt students, and each day we would chop down Russian olives.”

The Russian Olive Tree is an invasive species which poses a threat to the health of the Escalante River and its watershed. In collaboration with the Escalante River Watershed Partnership, ASB students worked to remove the trees and restore parts of the monument’s two million acres to their natural ecological conditions.

Adams found the trip to be not only beneficial to the environment, but also a personally rewarding way to spend a week of spring break.

“The beautiful views and major bonding with my other site members made it a true week to remember,” she said.

Sunshine

Beach

Theme parks

Palm trees

Orlando it is!

This spring break, Linh and I visited four places in Orlando in three days and had a fantastic time. We would like to share some tips with you about how to squeeze but enjoy massive sightseeings. We hope you to have a productive and exciting trip to Orlando in the future.

Day 1: Beach and Kennedy Space Center

We went to Cocoa beach, the nearest one to Orlando, in the morning. Afterwards, we went to Kennedy Space Center, which is in the same direction as Cocoa beach. You can save some commuting time if you visit them together.

Day 2: Universal Studio

We bought two-park-ticket for Universal Studio, glanced all the attractions and completed half of them in twelve hours. There weren’t so many people in the morning. We didn’t wait in line for more than fifteen minutes before eleven, so be sure to come around the time it opens. I recommend you to go to Island of Adventure to play roller coasters and stimulators in the morning so that you don’t need to wait in line. At noon, you could take Hogwarts Express to go to Studio. There are some stimulators about popular movies and shops in Studio. But most importantly, Studio is best for taking photos. Every building and street decoration is perfect for pictures. If you are a Harry Potter fan, definitely come here! There is a huge area imitating Hogwarts and shops in Harry Potter. 

Day 3: Disney World

Make sure your tickets are to Disney WORLD! I mistakenly bought the tickets to Disneyland, which is in California, and had to call Disney staff at midnight to cancel the tickets. It is way more crowded in Disney than Universal Studio. We started to wait in line at the monorail station before entering the park, so it’s better to arrive half an hour earlier than it opens. But, you can use FAST PASS in the park! You can reserve past pass for three attractions a month before the day you go. After using all three fast passes, you can continues to reserve attractions. Use fast passes as soon as possible in order to reserve more.

I hope these advices somehow help you!