If you are a Vanderbilt student, there is no way that you don’t know Professor Stephen Buckles, who is in charge of teaching the Introduction to Macroeconomics and Introduction to Microeconomics class as well as other higher-level classes of Economics. He is one of the most outstanding, knowledgeable and respected professors on campus. His enthusiasm for the subject and the humor that he brings into every lecture create a lively interaction between students and professor. If you are planning to major in Economics or finding a class to fulfill AXLE: Social and Behaviorial Sciences, his classes are highly recommended. It is guaranteed that you will never regret taking a class with Professor Buckles and it may be one of the most unforgettable yet challenging moments of your college career.
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Humans of the Commons: Linh Vu
Linh Vu is a Vietnamese freshman. She comes from Hanoi, the second largest city in Vietnam, where the traffic jam is totally insane but has a variety of food. She is extremely passionate about media and how it can change and expand people’s perspectives. Let’s get to know more about her.
I know you are interested in Cinema and Media Arts, can you tell us why?
Growing up with my grandpa’s black and white films he made, I got engaged in movies since childhood. What impressed me was not the technology used back then, but the ability of movies to convey messages that still apply to the modern world. Movies have ignited my interest in working towards a strong, liberal society and in the way it alters people’s views on certain concepts and opinions in life.
I used to be oblivious about feminism and its importance for women; however, documentary films “India’s Daughter” challenged me to learn about the true experiences of women’s repression and pursuit of equality around the world. Exploring film at Vanderbilt by learning from talented film students and outstanding professors would allow me to deliver my own messages as a feminist, thereby challenging stereotypes and repressive social norms. I want to make my own documentary films to raise awareness about issues like sex trafficking in third world countries and the LGBT movement in Vietnam. I believe, by learning professional film-making, I could add a creative dimension to my intended career in broadcast media, finding new ways to shed light on injustice and promote equality across the globe.
What clubs are you involved on campus that concerns with your interests?
I’m involved in Vanderbilt Hustler, Vanderbilt Television News, My Commons Life and Vanderbilt University Theatre. I used to work as a photographer and a video editor. I’m currently working on a project interviewing professors to improve her photo-taking and video-editing skills. For this project, I ask professors at Vanderbilt about their academic interests, advices, hobbies and other aspects students wish to know about them. This project will be featured on My Commons Life soon!
Is there a very impressive event or class during last semester for you?
Professor Ben Tran’s first year writing seminar about The Vietnam War has huge impact on me. Born and raised in the Vietnam, I have always taken pride in my country’s legacy and my ancestors’ struggle to gain independence and freedom. For a long time, my knowledge was limited by ambiguous datas of years, historical figures and visual war images delivered by Vietnamese teachers. Those lessons denounced war crimes, displayed the hardships of Vietnamese during the Second Indochina War, and blamed United States for all problems. However, I underestimated impact of war on people from different races, cultures and beliefs. As I learn my country’s history in another country, I started to look at this period from a broader picture that the North and South Vietnam were actually divided and used as pawns in the chessboard played by two foreign superpowers—the United States and Soviet Union—or two binary ideologies—Capitalism and Communism.
What is your favorite place to study on campus?
I would say my top choices are the Baseball Lounge in Sarratt and Vanderbilt Law Library. The reasons are quite simple. The Baseball Lounge is the ideal location for me to get wonderful food at Local Java or Rand whenever I am hungry, while the Law Library is an extremely quiet place with a lot of serious graduate students focusing on their works, which too makes me feel concentrated on my study.
MCL Top 5: Add Some Quirkiness to Your Weekend
At this point in the year, many of us first years have gotten stuck in a regular Saturday routine, partaking in frat culture, going to see a movie, or dining at mellow mushroom. The adventures and new experiences of first semester are now the new normal, but do you ever question what else might be out there?
Escape your normal routine this week and try out some of these random and memorable Nashville experiences for yourself!
5.Swing Dance Nashville
https://swingdancenashville.com/
Swing Dance Nashville keeps the spirit of the 1920s and 1950s alive with big band music and an old-timey flair that’s contagious. Once you know the Lindy Hop (a form of swing) which you can learn 8-9pm on Fridays, you are all set to dance around the open hall from 9pm-12pm. The dance floor features everyone from true beginners to wildly talented professionals and is truly a mesmerizing blast from the past.
4.Studio Goddess
https://www.studiogoddess.com/
Studio Goddess is a female-centered workout studio with a profound twist. Dive head first into their unique fitness classes which include Stiletto Cardio, Aerial performance (including silks and the aerial ring), and Pole Dancing. Pay for a class and see how you like it, or get a starter pack and try everything this bold and fun studio has to offer!
3.Station Inn
If you still haven’t felt like you’ve gotten to the heart of Nashville yet, then the Station Inn is for you. Loaded with the history and culture of Bluegrass and Roots music, this humble venue features some of the most talented musicians I’ve ever heard. You certainly don’t have to be a Country music fan to appreciate the energy and atmosphere surrounding these performers.
2.Grimey’s Record
Grimey’s Record store not only contains some of the most unique records in Nashville; it is also home to regular pop-up, intimate in-store concerts. If you’re into records of music beyond what the Honky Tonks offer, then Grimey’s is the place for you.
1.Adventure Science Center
While most of us are at least legal adults now, we all deserve to release our inner child at some point this semester! Invite Pre-med. and Russian Lit. students alike to be amazed by interactive displays, planetarium shows, and virtual reality. The Adventure Science Center is sure to be a brilliant and vibrant way to spend a Saturday!
Image links: https://www.livingsocial.com/deals/swing-dance-nashville-1
https://plus.google.com/100809616275291806076
http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/nashville-tn/bars/the-station-inn
https://inandaroundnashville.com/place/adventure-science-center/
Perspective; Even Pre-med Students Should Explore Academically
This is Alex Luckerman.
(image from the hustler)
“I came into college thinking that my passion was education but upon further thought I realize I didn’t want to teach and I didn’t really know what else to do with that, so I’m kind of at a point where I just want to explore, and that’s all I really feel like is certain at this point.
So right now I’m taking Neuroscience, ugh, a computer science class, a class called mind and brain which is about cognitive neuroscience–I did not really know that getting into it, but I thought it was cool so I stayed– the intro seminar for Peabody scholars which is on creativity and an English class on representative american writers… and intro French, because I took it in high school and I forgot everything despite having been in it for 5 years…”
His Plentiful Interests
Honestly I would take classes in pretty much everything we have here with the exception of maybe like, really theoretical math classes and anything in business, (it just) isn’t that interesting to me. But otherwise, all of the sciences, like chemistry, biology and physics were just so interesting to me in high school…I also really, want to take classes in philosophy, I took intro to ethics last semester, and it was easily my favorite class, with my class on justice just behind it. And neither of those pertain to anything I’m going to show up with on my diploma when I leave here, but they were just so, cool.
I like thinking about how different social structures work, and what it means to be human, and all these really deep questions that I feel like a lot of students here don’t really feel like they have the time to pause and think about, because they’re too busy trying to go down a specific path toward a career, or they’ve managed to isolate one thing that they’re really passionate about, that they can just pursue.
His Recommendation?
I’m really fortunate that as a cognitive studies major with a good number of AP credits transferring in that I have just a bunch of freedom that I can just explore. I understand that not everyone is going to be able to do the same sort of random class taking that I am lucky enough to be able to do, especially if they’re pre-med, and want to do a double major in whatever crazy stuff people are up to around here.
But, when they get the chance, I think it’s really mind-opening to just be able to take a class that you wouldn’t otherwise be studying and just give you a moment to take your mind away from the very specific path that you might have chosen… you’re, sort of forced to choose when you choose a major, and actually explore the broader intellectual world around you. There’s a unique opportunity to do that at college that you’re gonna struggle to find anywhere else, especially for the time to do.”
A down-to-earth look at the busiest First year on commons
This is Gabrielle Blackburn.
Her response to hearing about the random events on campus most of us ignore?
“Oh that’s really cool, let me try that. Oh that really cool, let me do that. And so i have a
tendency to get veryinvolved very quickly...Tango club’s on my calendar. It doesn’t mean I go every week, because sometimes it’s not in the cards. But, because I wanted to learn how to dance tango, I do these things because it makes me happy.
The Google Calendar
“So you know how the background is white, and then the default things you add are blue? Its like 90% blue. Yea, the only white is between 11pm and 9am. But, I’m okay with that… it changes week to week… I’ve been trying to keep it all in my head but there’s like no way… so i actually started using (an agenda) and it changed my life.
I switched to google calendar so I can see everything… it’s all in my phone, so if someone like, when are you free?, I can say, Monday at 7… scheduling things, and being intentional about how you use your time. If being in all these things is what you want then you have to be willing to make sacrifices of things you consider less important.
Is it for you?
I don’t think you should try to cram yourself full or join 8 billion clubs just to join 8 billion clubs. I was talking about this with someone earlier and she said There’s no need to have a resume which can bench press the weight of all your hopes and dreams. There’s not reason to fill up your time if that’s not what you want you want to do and is going to make you satisfied.
I am not someone who watches Netflix, but some people like having an hour of just chill watching a show in their day. It has to do with what fulfills you; what you can reasonably do and still be a functioning human being, because that’s also really important
(Gabrielle then laughed)
Because sometimes I forget that too.
There’s no point in being in every club if you’re not present, its not meaningful to you… It’s better even just from a resume standpoint. It’s better to have something that you’re invested in rather than something to check another box, take up another line.
How to Juggle a full google calendar, friendships and self
Taking a moment
So I’m trying to be very intentional about it (self care). Today I stopped doing my work, took a long shower, did a face mask. It was like, okay, I feel better.
I feel like that’s my biggest form of self care, when like, I mess up, when i forget somethings, when I let someone down. I try not to beat myself up over it; I’m like, okay this is what i have to do next time to be successful… I’d say improvement is growth.
Eating
Life hack: schedule meals with people. ‘Cuz then you get to see friends you wouldn’t see otherwise and someone holds you responsible for making sure you don’t forget to eat. You have to eat anyway, so you may as well make it friendship time.
One of my friends has all her social media in her phone in a folder, its called time wasters and i love that…. Its not a replacement for real interaction with people. So if I’m gonna having fulfilling, full friendships its not going to be liking everyone’s Instagram post, its gonna be texting “hey when are you free for lunch this week”. So i have a running list of people in my phone of people I want to eat food with in the near future and I thought I was the only one… (she is not; I myself have one).
Friendships
If a friendship is important, you’ll make time for it. And this is a side note, but I’m not going to put effort into spending time with people who don’t want to put an effort into spending time with me…. It’s okay to let something go if that friendship isn’t meaningful and the other person isn’t willing to meet in the middle. I’d rather focus on..those really good people that add things to my life. It’s the same thing as like having a resume that can… there’s no point in having a resume that is miles long but not deep. So I feel the same way about friendships as I do about that.
Sleep
Its easy to fool yourself, like yea I’m doing fine, or lie to yourself and be like yea, 5 hours of sleep is plenty of sleep for me. So if you have something objective telling you (she showed me an app she uses), like, no you only slept this much last night, that was dumb. THAT’S helpful.
I am a person who needs more than average amount of sleep to function, like some people are good on 6 hours a night; I am not one of those people, but I’ve also recognized that, so sometimes I have to say no i cant go out tonight, like, rain check, next time I’ll go out, but tonight I need to take care of myself.
Journaling
I try to journal because if I just go go go go go, I don’t have time to process all the things that are happening, and when its things that involve my relationships with other people, I want to work through everything in my head, and so physically writing it down forces me to actually think about it, because if I just do it mentally, its like, okay THAT’S done, even if I didn’t actually work on myself…
Efficiency
I found out in High school that if I wanted to keep doing all the things I was doing -(like not die of not sleeping)- if i wanted to keep that level of involvement, I had to maximize my efficiency. Its such a nerdy thing, it sounds so dumb, but choosing if I want to be able to be apart of this organization, if I want to work on this show, I need to not watch Netflix. I need to not be on my phone that dead time between classes; I need to be working on my stats homework instead of just sitting there on my phone until the professor shows up.
Growing
I’d like to think I’m pretty self aware… we’re in this time of transition, becoming real adults. (I’m) working on that process of being more responsible and taking care of myself.
I’m also optimistic to a fault, so sometimes I’m like yea, yea I can do 4 things in 1 evening, and I get to the first one, and I’m like I’m going to go home, and do my homework as soon as possible and go to sleep. This GBM for something isn’t… i can prioritize something else, I can prioritize my own health.
Her final message
“I believe in everybody. I believe in you you can do it.”
MCL Top 5: Sitcoms to watch at the beginning of new semester
5. We Bare Bears:
If you like bears and cute cartoon, this is definitely your choice. Three bears—Grizzly, Panda, Ice Bear—live together in a cave. One is a restless and outgoing brown bear. One is an otaku panda who spends all day on Internet. One is a silent versatile ice bear. They always bump into different troubles, but as they unite together and support each other, they overcome those difficulties every time.
4. Bojack Horseman:
Feeling stressed out or lonely or lost? Watching Bojack Horseman certainly makes your life happier. Many sharp characters and ridiculous situations in film industry are portrayed. Life is full of unexpected ups and downs for Bojack, the once-famous horse actor with terrible drug and drinking problems but also a good-natured heart. He sleeps with random girls, falls in love with his friend’s girlfriend, and finally regains popularity by his biography and acting in a movie about his idol. Every line in this sitcom is a hurtful truth that no one wants to admit. However, you may be encouraged by those truths somehow.
3. Young Sheldon:
I bet you all heard about Big Bang Theory. The story about four Caltech geek scientists’ job and how they meet their Mrs. rights. Tons of scientific facts, dirty jokes, and eccentric characters of Sheldon must bring you tons of joy. If you are not satisfying by just watching grown-up sheldon, you are more than welcomed to explore his childhood. The sitcom Young Sheldon season 1 is already released. A cute boy with super intelligent mind and weird habits tries to be an adult and cope with the environment he dislikes—Earth. This time, we can also dive into his family—capricious meemaw, simple-minded father, devout Christian mother, and not-as-smart-as-him siblings,.
2. Joey:
Enjoy the time hanging out and living with best buddies? Love watching Friends and upset that it doesn’t have sequel now? Don’t worry. Joey will save your laughter. Remember Joey, the Italian actor in Friends who always screw up his job and have sex with women? This sitcom is about his career in LA after his five other friends settle down in different places. With his sister Gina, nephew Michael, neighbor Alex, Joey learns to live on his own, begins to have a successful actor career, and finds his true love.
1. Modern Family:
As we are leaving home for the new semester, do you still miss your family? I bet most of us do. Modern Family season 9 is on show now. It’s about how three distinct small families of a big family deal with their daily troubles and support each other. A reconstituted family with elder husband and younger wife. A family with various tricky children—indolent social queen, geek, boy who constantly play tricks. A gay family with an adopted Vietnamese girl. Despite the diversity, bizarre relationships between family members, and everyone’s selfishness, the three families always care and help each other out. It’s all about love, responsibility, trust, sacrifice, and happiness.
Humans of the Commons Expanded: The Celiac Saga
Based on an interview with Valerie Kraft.
“Okay, everything revolves around food. Like everything. You think about every college event; How do they get you to come? There’s gonna be food. It’s a very big part of american culture, because we’re Americans, it’s what we do.”
What is Celiac disease?
“So Celiac, (is not) an allergy but it’s … an autoimmune disorder, and if I eat the things (gluten), I don’t have an allergic reaction; I have an autoimmune reaction which means my body just, like, kills itself. And because gluten is what I can’t eat a lot of times people just think ~ “trendy”~ but it’s not. You know on one hand i’m really grateful to those people because that’s why i can go to munchie mart and get gluten free chicken nuggets from the freezer.. and it’s like thank y’all for making a market for this… but it’s really annoying when you have to tell people that no, this is really serious and you have to take precautions and they’re like “yeah okay”…….. Like no, please.
Another thing is when you get diagnosed, they go, don’t eat gluten! And then they don’t tell you what that means! They don’t tell you what level… they don’t tell you any of that… I’m very lucky that I was able to connect with a (specialized) doctor… the doctor who diagnosed me was like, Bye. You’re done. Copay.”
Eyes Opened.
“You can say that my whole disease is a hoax, like people come and try to tell me their conspiracy theories… I’m grateful that that’s all it takes; it doesn’t take medicine or shots, you know what I mean?
You don’t realize how terrible the world is for people without allergies until you are one.”
You don’t realize how terrible labeling laws are, or how everything is food related, and how everything has gluten in it .. people think bread, but that also means no licorice, no licking envelopes, you have to be careful with your shampoo, and your makeup, and lotion and pickle juice, and drinks, and lemonade, and coffee… it’s literally everything.
There was a kid at my school who had this big peanut allergy and when he came to my school we had to get rid of our peanut butter and get sun butter and everyone was pissed… and it’s a bunch of 6 year olds, and we wanted our peanut butter… And they could have killed the kid, it’s not worth it!”
____The Industry_____, It’s a Trap!
“Halloween candy in general, the shapes don’t make any sense… Reese’s cups for example. The cups are gluten free but not any of the seasonal shapes; for example no hearts no pumpkins, trees, the wrapped minis are gluten free but not the unwrapped minis…
These are just rules you have to know on your own or you have to go on the updated-once-a-year glutenaway.com halloween candy list. Cuz you just have to know and like certain candies are only gluten free in certain countries like starburst are only gluten free in north america if you eat starburst in australia you’re in baaaad luck my friend.
There is no labeling consistency in america… Wheat is a top 8 allergen, gluten is not, there’s a lot more to gluten than just wheat. Something could not have that contain wheat, or have that contain wheat, and still it’s not gluten free. Like you can’t ever go by labeling, you can only go by labeling if you’re in the top 8 and even then that’s still pretty iffy.
There are a lot of products that are labeled gluten free in the american marketplace that are not labeled gluten free in other places because they recognize that they are not actually safe.”
Effect Beyond the Food.
“Till this day it try to, like, tape some candy to their (a friend’s) door or say have a nice day because people have gone out of their way to do nice things for me like that in life. You don’t really know all the details behind a person’s life… you just don’t know! And so i figured out that when someone’s “vagueing” about something going on in life, it’s usually a lot worse than they let on, and so I always try to just do something nice for people… because how many times has someone done something really little for you and still think about it to this day… the thing with the whole dietary restriction is you always have to be thinking about these sort of things… when you get good at picking on who else has dietary restrictions… you get good at picking up on a lot of things.
…Celiac and food allergies are a lot more common than you think. We’re more than that, we’re not just a food allergy… like you think of your friend, you think of doing social things and oh can they do that? …and a lot of times you’re hesitant to invite us to things, cuz we can’t eat… but we’re your friend before we’re — the allergy kid– so just invite us, and we’ll do what’s best for us… if we come and we get water, or the one allergy safe option of lettuce.
A lot of the time it’s easy for people to get into the *gasp you can’t eat thisss?!?!. We have allergies but we’re, like, y’all.”
Valerie Kraft (class 2021) is a leader for teen Celiac activists throughout country. She is also a self-proclaimed adrenaline junky, caretaker for friends, and advocate.
Humans of the Commons: Nnenna Nwaezeapu
Nnenna Nwaezeapu (2021) Major: Biology, Hometown: Washington D.C
“I care a lot about veterinary medicine, singing, and social justice. I want to be a vet because I love animals and I find human medicine gross. When my dog passed away the vets that were supposed to take care of him were trash so I want to do better than they did. No one can really sing in my family but we would always sing together so I’ve developed a love for it. Living in Washington D.C has exposed me to many marches, organizations and protests regarding social justice so because of that my activism has grown. I’m looking forward to pursuing these passions at Vanderbilt and also improving and bettering myself. I’m also single and ready to mingle.”
Top 5 Newish Horror Movies to Watch that are Actually Scary
So it’s finally the best month of the year again! With October comes Halloween, which is easily my favorite day of the year. If you are also a lover of spooky Halloween festivities then you’re most likely looking to have a scary movie marathon in some house seminar room. Here are five newish horror movies that are all certified fresh to start your Halloween season off the right way!
5. Split (2016)
Split is a horror rollercoaster that showcases a good mix of jump scares and general fear causing moments. James McAvoy gives a wonderfully spooky performance as a man with 23 distinct personalities on the brink of unleashing a dangerous 24th one. Split has a really great and in depth plot for a horror movie so go check it out!
4.Crimson Peak (2015)
Oh buddy, Crimson Peak is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Guillermo del Toro is a fantastic director and his creativity and love for beautiful cinematography is shown in this movie. Crimson Peak has it all: ghosts, romance, and a plot to get you increasingly shook as you uncover the mysteries within it. It also has a top notch cast including Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam and Jessica Chastain. You know it’s going to be a spooky movie when it involves an English town where the weather is never good.
3.It (2017)
This Stephen King remake proved to be entirely worth the $10 I paid to see it as a broke college student. I’m still not over some of the scenes in this movie. Pennywise being played by Bill Skarsgard, who is already a creepy guy, was a great decision. It’s still in theatres so phone some friends or family members and head out to go get spooked.
2.Lights Out (2016)
The movie poster may not be very intriguing but this was one of the scary movies that if seen as a child make you ask your sibling or parent to wait outside your bathroom door when you have to pee in the middle of the night. This movie is the type of movie that made me as a high school senior run to my bed like Usain Bolt after turning off the lights. There’s some pretty heavy themes in this movie in addition to the terror but if you are looking to be super duper spooked this is the movie for you.
1.Get Out (2017)
If you are reading this and you haven’t yet seen Get Out, I’m gonna need you to close this tab and go watch Get Out ASAP. Not only is Get Out scary, but it was able to successfully intertwine humor, horror and woke messages into an under two hour long movie. The acting is so good that I still cannot separate some of the actors from the roles they played. This movie will give you quotes for days, valuable social commentary and a good ol’ spook. Go watch it or “Get Out”.
Humans of the Commons: Brendan Finnerty
“A very pivotal experience for me as a first-year student was the fall rush process for Greek life. I knew little about the fraternities on campus, but my roommate told me I should check out Alpha Tau Omega. When I went to their rush events it felt like more than a social club, but rather a true brotherhood where the brothers genuinely cared about not just each other but others as well. Joining Alpha Tau Omega has allowed me to branch out to new friendships and opportunities on campus, and it has definitely had a tremendously positive impact on my first year at college and beyond.”