How well do you know Vanderbilt’s own Black history? Test your knowledge on this short, 5 question quiz!
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Features
The Valentine’s Day Prediction Machine 3000
A normal day for some, a doomsday for others, and the only memorable part about February (other than the thing that happens every four years)—Valentine’s Day!
With my extensive experience, in love, I have formulated and developed a 100% accurate, cruelty-free, artificially made with no preservatives, prediction machine for your Valentine’s Day!
After some quick and fun questions, you will be presented with your results (including a hand-drawn photo from your favorite person, of course). (Please take the quiz [multiple times, preferably] I worked very hard to draw those results :3) <- ᵗʰᵃⁿᵏˢ, ᴵ ʰᵒᵖᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃʳᵉⁿ’ᵗ ᵈᶦˢᵃᵖᵖᵒᶦⁿᵗᵉᵈ
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MCL Top 5: Asian Restaurants on Explore Nashville
Good Asian food in Tennessee? Is that even something to hope for? Turns out, it is possible! In fact, it even comes at free external cost. A unique part of Vanderbilt’s mandatory meal plan for all freshman is our Taste of Nashville program. While the list of restaurants on the Taste of Nashville program is extensive, this post will guide you in your search for the best Asian restaurants around campus.
5. Shokku Ramen
Good ramen is always a classic. Whenever you have a craving for ramen, it can be satiated at Shokku Ramen. With their build your own ramen option, you get to choose your own broth, meat, toppings, and level of spice. The spice level ranges all the way from “I’ll pass” to “Shinigami” (death god). I usually go for “Just right” as someone with a low spice tolerance. This is perfect for picky eaters as it gives every individual a one of a kind, personalized experience every time the walk into the restaurant. It’s always exciting to see the variety of ramen combinations my friends and I order.
4. Banh Mi’s Boba
Banh Mi is one of the only nearby Vietnamese restaurants that is on Taste of Nashville. The highlight of this Vietnamese place lies in their boba tea! Although often overlooked because of their amazing selection of banh mi sandwiches and spring rolls, Banh Mi also offers the best boba you can find using your meal plan. Their version of the brown sugar boba is the Wild Tiger Boba that includes warm, caramelized boba and fresh milk. Whenever you feel the need to have boba on random Tuesday nights, you can make your way down to Banh Mi. Beware, for they close fairly early at 8PM.
3. Satay
Grubhubbing Satay on Saturday nights is a weekly tradition that cannot be easily broken. This Thai restaurant has a wide selection of fried rice, stir fried noodle, grilled meat and rice, and noodle soup! Especially during Vanderbilt’s freezing winters, when you get too lazy to walk all the way through main campus, grubhubbing Satay for dinner is always a solid choice. The highlight of Satay would be the spring roll or salad service they provide with main dishes!
2. Sitar
For this Indian restaurant, I highly recommend going in-person to get the complete, immersive experience! This place had the best service with full attention given to the diners, constantly checking in to see if everything was all right. Starting with the appetizers, Sitar set the bar high with the chutney and papadum (lentil crackers). You have the option to choose house combinations (similar to family style options) where you and your friends can share tandoori chicken, shrimp, curry, butter naan, and white rice. Their portion sizes are far too generous and the variety of foods you can get from ordering the set menus are simply incomparable to any other restaurant!
1. Meet Noodles
Meet, Noodles! He is always down to go on fun adventures, comforting in times of need, and just overall a really dependable guy. This Chinese noodle restaurant allows you build your own bowl where you can experiment with different base soups, noodles, and toppings. The highlight of this restaurant is the different kinds of noodle options that they provide: Chong Qing noodles, sliced noodles, sweet potato noodles, and rice noodles. A bowl of these noodles can clear up any of your covid-like symptoms and keep you going for the rest of the week!
MCL Top 5: Games To Play While Waiting In Line
Rand, EBI, and Commons all have one thing in common. No, it’s not the fact that they are dining halls. It’s the fact that they all have EXTREMELY long lines. Thankfully, there are a few semi-productive things you could do on your phone to make the time fly. I present to you: the Top 5 Mobile Games To Play While Waiting In Line!
5. Candy Crush Saga
Remember when people were addicted to this game? Seems like so long ago. This puzzle game is not only a good throwback: IT’S CHOCOLATELY!!!! It might even make you crave that Rand cookie even more, so be careful!
4. Subway Surfers
Jake, Tricky, Fresh, and all their friends took us on wild rides across train tracks, away from that cop whose face we never see. You get an adrenaline rush from virtually running from the law. Also, can we take a second to appreciate the diversity of the characters we get introduced to every time the game updates and the setting is changed to a new global city?
3. Wordscapes
Each day is a new day to play Wordscapes. Try and guess the five-letter word in under six tries. Here’s a tip from someone who has a 6-day winning streak *brushes shoulder off*: try and see which of the 5 vowels in the English alphabet MUST be in the word.
2. Sudoku
Sudoku is a wonderful way to pass time. Seriously, I was at the back of a long line at 2301 at 6:30 pm on a Wednesday. I played a hard Sudoku puzzle that took me 15 minutes to figure out, but when I finished, I looked up, and the lady behind the counter was telling me to grab a bowl and a sharpie because I was holding up the line. This game is like magic!
1. Flow Free
I kid you not: I play this game every day. This advanced connect the dots game is tremendously therapeutic. The pop sound you hear when you match the same colored dots together…OH MY GOODNESS. It’s music to my ears. Just hearing that sound shows signifies that I accomplished SOMETHING today. It’s a great feeling, but you have to experience it to fully understand it. Ya know?
Let me know in the comments down below what other mobile games should be added to this list. In the meantime, happy gaming!
MCL Quiz: Which Housing Option is Right for You?
It’s the beginning of Spring Semester, and the deadlines for housing applications are growing ever closer.
If you’re anything like me, you have NO idea what you’re going to do for housing next year. With so many options, choosing housing can be an extremely overwhelming process.
Instead of having to scour the entire OHARE (Office of Housing and Residential Experience) website to learn the ins and outs of every single residence hall, living learning community, and housing option, I’ve done the work for you.
Take this quiz to find out which housing option is the best fit for you, your wants, and your needs!
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MCL Quiz: Which Holiday Stocking Are You?
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MCL Top 5 Best Parts of the Fall Semester
With almost a full semester completed here at Vanderbilt, it can be easy to forget the things that made our first few months so great. So let’s stop and take a look back at the Top 5 Best Parts of the Fall Semester.
5. Football Games
In spite of the fact that the Commodores went 2-10 this season, going to the football games was a highlight of the semester. Spending a Saturday cheering on my team with my friends was something I thoroughly enjoyed, and I look forward to doing it again for the winter and spring sports.
4. The Scenery
We live on a beautiful campus, and I hope to never stop appreciating it. Whether it was the lush greenery of the summer or the vibrant colors of the fall, I always felt in touch with nature. Even many of the beautiful buildings like the Wyatt Center, Kirkland Hall, and Furman Hall (known by many as “the castle”) further accentuate the visual appeal of campus.
3. $50 Meal Money
Although it may have been a brief six days, we all remember this time well. Receiving $50 per day to buy food was a great way to start off the semester. On top of that, many of us got to know the people who are now our closest friends over those meals which, I think, is even better than the food itself.
2. My Commons Life
This one might be a little specific to me, but I still wanted to put it on the list. It has been an amazing experience working with this amazing staff and writing for you every week. I truly hope the content we publish has been a enjoyable part of your semester, and I look forward to writing more pieces in the spring.
1. New Lives
Whether you just graduated high school or were coming off a gap year, whether you came from across the country or just outside of Nashville, whether you walked in knowing exactly what you wanted to do or you were undecided, we all arrived in August ready to start our new lives. This has been a semester of defining and redefining our identities, our paths, our stories. I love where my journey has taken me in the last four months, and I know that I am nowhere near my final destination. I hope the same is true for you.
MCL Top 5 Worst Parts of the Fall Semester
These last few months have not always been easy. As we approach the last challenge of our first semester at Vanderbilt – finals week – let’s take a moment to remember all the things that made the transition to college life a bit more difficult. So here are the Top 5 Worst Parts of the Fall Semester: may we leave them in the past where they belong.
5. Campus Dining
You knew this was going to make the list. We were told Vanderbilt had some of the best dinging in the country, but our experience during the first semester did not live up to the hype. Between long lines and limited options, this is a part of my experience I would rather move on from.
4. The T-Shirt Line
I am going all the way back to our first weekend here for this one but, I think it is still worth noting. Waiting in line in the hot, humid air for over an hour on a weekend when we were all extremely busy was not the best use of time. The worst part was that after standing there for that long period of time, all we did was pull some ink across a shirt and watch it dry. Yes, we stood in the heat for hours just so we could literally watch paint dry. It is no wonder why this activity made it on this list.
3. The Squirrels
I do not care how cute you think the squirrels are, they are little monsters. At first I thought they were adorable and harmless, but I was wrong. They are aggressive and vicious and arrogant. Just the other day, one of them looked me dead in the eyes and started yelling at me from inside a recycling bin. They have no fear, and I am confident they are plotting something terrible.
2. Laundry Wars
No matter what side of this conflict you were on, you suffered. Whether someone removed your laundry from the dryer while it was still wet, or you had to wait a half hour to put your clothes in the wash because someone else had not taken them out yet, we all paid the price for a limited number of washers and dryers. Even those of us who washed our clothes at non-peak times still dealt with the weekly passive-aggressive laundry-related messages in the house group chats that defined Sunday afternoons. None of us came out clean on the other side of this one.
1. Allergies
Many of us grew up in a very different climate than that of Tennessee. Combine that with Nashville’s constant oscillation between 40 and 70 degree days and you have a perfect storm for a lot of bad allergies. Many of us spent much of the semester feeling under the weather which detracted from our school and social lives. If feeling a little bit sick is not enough, thanks to COVID there was always an extra moment of panic every time you sneezed with the thought crossing your mind: “Will I be locked in quarantine for two weeks?” It is sad enough when someone gets sick; they should not have to worry about their academic and social lives too.
So here’s to a healthier semester, a semester with more choices and less lines in our dining halls, and a semester without aggressive laundry messages and even more aggressive rodents. So let us celebrate the end of the Fall Semester and the beginning of something better. I look forward to seeing y’all in the new year.
Top 5 Christmas Songs to Add to YOUR Playlist
‘Tis the season to break out the tinsel and those textbooks, amirite?!?!?! While you are seeking the motivation to start studying for finals next week, maybe get the ball rolling with some festive jingles. In fact, I have some song suggestions. Some of you may have heard of these bangers before and some of you haven’t. I want to promote the talents of some lesser-known singers and the lesser-known songs of some relatively-famous people, so STEP ASIDE MARIAH CAREY!
- Feliz Navidad by Walk Off the Earth
This Canadian indie pop band released an acoustic version of this Spanish classic! The music video is quirky, cute, and one-of-a-kind. The five of them are gathered around a guitar, either plucking strings, drumming on the base of the guitar, tuning the instrument, or holding it up. The absence of electrical amplification, the harmonies, and snappiness make the tune something to salsa to!
2. Winter Wonderland by Blanca
Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Blanca showcases her pipes and playfulness with this R&B spin on the Christmas classic. She really gets your shoulders rolling and feet shuffling. Go show this girl some love and check out this song!
3. Thank God It’s Christmas by Queen
The famous rock band Queen has a lot of hits, but not many know about their one Christmas song. Freddie Mercury’s ever-so-iconic dramatic flair and the slow pace of the instrumentals make this song a classic. I haven’t the slightest idea why this track isn’t more popular.
4. The Very First Christmas by Spongebob Squarepants (and the rest of the Bikini Bottom gang)
If you don’t know this song, I am concerned for your mental and emotional well-being. The classic cartoon characters from our favorite underwater fictional world sing a silly, yet catchy Christmas carol, complete with Spongebob and Patrick’s cheer, Squidward’s pessimism, and Mr. Krabs’s falsetto.
5. Cheetah-licious Christmas by the Cheetah Girls
The *arguably* greatest girl group of the twenty-first century dropped one Christmas album and dipped. This track is sooooo GOOD. After reading this article, it is absolutely necessary that you listen to this song. My words alone can not even begin to even introduce the reasoning behind this tune’s greatness. You’re just going to have to listen to it yourself.
I am so honored to have been able to introduce all the My Commons Life fans to these slept-on masterpieces of Christmas music. I hope that by adding these five songs to your Christmas playlist that THIS CHRISTMAS, will be, a very special CHRISTMAS, for meeeeeeee (and you)!
A Letter to the Class of 2025
Dear Class of 2025,
I cannot believe it is December already. Whether it has felt long or short, our first semester at Vanderbilt is quickly coming to a close. So before you become fixated on your finals and Winter Break and next semester, I challenge you to look back at the past few months and reflect.
Think back to all the people you met. If you were like me, you did not know anyone when you stepped foot on campus in August. What changed? How did you get to know the people you are closest with? Are there people you were close with when the year started that you do not see as often any more? Ask yourself if there is anyone else you would like to get closer with. I assure you it is not too late.
Think about the classes you took. Consider the subjects you enjoyed and even those you disliked. Are you majoring in what is most interesting to you? If not, do not be afraid to adjust or completely change your major. I already have, and I am glad I did it.
Think of how your transition into this phase of your life has gone. What have you done that you enjoyed the most? How about the things you wish you had done? There is still plenty of time to go do those things be it in these next three weeks or in the Spring Semester.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank all of you for making this such an amazing semester. I would be lying if I said that I was not nervous when I moved in. The community here calmed those nerves in no time. I know my and others’ experiences here are due in large part to each and every one of you. So one more time: thank you.
I wish all of you the best of luck these next few weeks and I look forward to spending the next few years with you.
Best wishes,
Daniel Sak