My Commons Life

News & features about the Vanderbilt Commons from the students who live here

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MCL Top 5: Non-Mandatory Things I’ll Be Doing Before Spring Break

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Spring break is fast approaching, and I couldn’t be happier about it! It’s certainly been a long few weeks, so I very much welcome the opportunity to relax for a full week. That being said, there’s quite a lot to get done before then (such as hiding all your contraband in the closet—I mean, taking out the trash so that you don’t get fined). But all that’s boring stuff, and I’m sure you all have read your emails. Instead, here’s five non-mandatory things I’ll be doing before spring break to prepare for my week back at home!

5. Using all my swipes

Look, I won’t proclaim to be the best about using every last one of my swipes every week, but for some reason I get much more motivated to do so right before breaks. If you see me struggling to hold four bottles of water and 12 bags of chips at the same time, no you don’t.

4. Making a list of food to eat once I’m back home

Donkatsu, soondubu, sushi… Whoops, got ahead of myself there. But wow am I excited to eat some good food without having to spend $20. My mouth is already watering at the thought.

3. Packing up (most) of my winter clothes

It’s certainly been deceptively warm these days! I say deceptively, because we all know Tennessee weather is horrible and it’ll definitely get cold again at some point in the semester. But still, I probably won’t need all of the sweaters and jackets I have, so I’ll be taking them home to free up some closet space. The only issue is how I’ll fit all of it in my suitcase…

2. Going to the Boba Bar

Is anybody even surprised at this point? I go to this place religiously. Even some of the bus drivers recognize me now. I’m not addicted, I swear. I just kinda can’t stop thinking about their boba when I’m at home is all. Yup! Perfectly normal.

1. Doing my work in advance

I’ve saved the most depressing for last! I will be doing lots of work this week and I hate it!! Why is there so much stuff due at the end of this week. And the beginning of the week after break. And all the time. There is constantly something to do. Benjamin Franklin said that nothing is certain except death and taxes, but he forgot the third certainty of unending work. There is no escape.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now! I hope everybody has a wonderful spring break! I, for one, will definitely enjoy ignoring the fact that I have three exams the week I get back. Toodles!

MCL Humor/Satire Feature: Breaking News: Nashville Zoo Reveals that Vanderbilt University Will be its Newest Exhibit

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An interactive experience is coming to Nashville sooner than you may expect.

In an unprecedented move, Vanderbilt University has partnered with the Nashville Zoo to bring their newest exhibit to life. Tour groups on Vanderbilt’s campus will now have the opportunity to stare blankly at real-life college students in their natural habitat.

This exciting educational opportunity provides a great insight into the fascinating walking habits of college students, and administrators from both organizations have expressed their gratitude towards the student body for their generous tuition payments that helped fund this exhibit.

In addition to the mesmerizing encounters with actual, literal, bona fide college students, this experience allows guests to block all the walkways on campus and get a feel for the many offerings they can take advantage of once they sell their soul to the Chancellor and agree to become a part of the exhibit themself.

A spokesperson for Vanderbilt University has emphasized the importance of this collaboration, stating, “These uncomfortable, behind-the-scenes encounters are crucial in establishing a connection between Vanderbilt and the outside world. By allowing random people to stare at students as they walk by, we hope to cause interactions that will help foster an appreciation and care for our students across the world.”

To be clear, I have nothing against tour groups as a concept, but it is a bit awkward how they all stare at you the same way as you walk by. And the bridge bottleneck…….

MCL Photo Feature: Round Animal Appreciation

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Okay, the title is slightly misleading—this article’s mostly about squirrels. I mean, how could it not be that way? There’s just so many more of them than anything else here (including all of us students, according to rumors). Anyways, I think the best part of this campus is all the chunky animals that I get to encounter on my walks across campus. They give this place so much life, and frankly, I think it would be a lot more depressing without them here. Now, I don’t claim to be a great photographer in the least, but I’ve gotten a few shots that always make me smile when I look at them. And this is important! I’ve had a busy few weeks, so anything that lifts my spirit is quite welcome. If you’re also in need of a pick-me-up, I hope this helps you out. Without further ado, here are some small, (mostly) rotund friends!

And because I couldn’t help it, here are some photos of my favorite good girl 😀

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now, but perhaps I’ll do one of these again once finals season rolls around. Only two-thirds of the semester to go! We’ve got this, everybody. See ya next week!

MCL Top 5: Student Perks I Take Advantage Of

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Being a student can be expensive! I’d certainly know. (This is a cry for help. I need to get a job.) As a result, any discount I can get is always very appreciated, and I do my best to abuse the ones I’m able to. But you can’t do that if you’re unaware they exist! Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of the top 5 student perks that I find very useful so that you may also share in the joy of discounted services. Happy penny pinching everybody!

5. New York Times + Wall Street Journal

Don’t you just hate it when you’re trying to read an interesting article, but then the website says, “Actually, we need to feed our families and keep this website going, so you can’t read more than two sentences of this article unless you pay a whole dollar“? I’m exaggerating here, obviously, but the point is that I consider the whole process a larger hassle than it’s worth, and end up giving up on reading. Thanks to Vanderbilt’s gracious generosity, we no longer have to go through that ordeal! For the low, low price of zero dollars and zero cents, you can get access to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal with just your student email. How amazing!

(Small note about this one: both of these services ask you for your graduation date. I was unfortunately too honest, and only realized later that I probably could’ve gotten a few more years of the free subscription had I said I was graduating a few years later than I’m planning on. Not that I’m encouraging any sort of dishonesty, nope! Not at all! Of course not! But it’s certainly worth mentioning.)

4. Microsoft 365

Now, as great as the Google suite is, I’m really happy we have access to Microsoft Office for free. There’s a lot of features that you just can’t get from Google’s version of things, and well. As much as I hate to be that person, lots of jobs ask for proficiency in Excel and not Google Sheets. So… yeah.

3. Discounted streaming services

Specifically, the YouTube Premium + YouTube Music bundle. I’m sure some of you Spotify loyalists are clutching your pearls right now, and sure, I get it! But they don’t have any of my favorite covers, nor do they have lots of other international (cough anime cough) tracks that I really enjoy. Not to mention, I like to do stuff while listening to random YouTube videos, so having premium is quite the nice quality-of-life upgrade.

Aside from discounted music streaming, you can also get (100%) discounted show streaming. Vanderbilt actually gives us HBO Max—and Peacock apparently—for free! Simply navigate to the sign in page, click “sign in with a provider”, select XFINITY, then find XFINITY On Campus. From there, it should be pretty straightforward. Enjoy! (Or perhaps don’t if you have no self control like myself.)

2. Nashville Symphony SOUNDCHECK student tickets

The classical music enjoyer in me is showing. With code “soundcheck”, you too can get concert tickets for just $10 from the Nashville Symphony website! They have lots of different offerings, from classical masterpieces, to live movie score concerts, to family events and more. There’s something for everybody, so check it out and support the arts!

1. Nashville bus system

This is literally the only reason I was able to write my Top 5 restaurants in Nashville article (which you should totally check out if you haven’t already) and most definitely my favorite student perk. Sure, they’re often late and don’t run come by all that often at night and may be a bit scary if you’re waiting at a stop alone. Haha! But it certainly beats having to pay outrageous prices for an Uber!

Honorable mentions go to the 60% discount on Adobe Creative Cloud (still too expensive for my taste) and the 25% discount on car insurance from State Farm and Allstate (I don’t own a car). And in case you’re wondering if there’s any more perks you can use—of course! Here‘s a slightly more comprehensive list of the benefits you can get to make up all your tuition money as a Vanderbilt student. Enjoy~

MCL Top 5: Restaurants I’ve Been to in Nashville

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What joy is a college student to (legally) find in life except eating good food? Kidding. But in all seriousness, I quite enjoy going out to find yummy things to eat, and I’m sure you do too! (At least, I’d assume so since you’re reading this feature.) To celebrate this commonality, I’ve compiled a list of my top 5 favorite restaurants in town so that you can also enjoy some great meals!

Note: I did my best to make sure that all of these restaurants would be accessible to most people. Some of the places are a bit far, but they’re all either bus-able or walkable locations. Additionally, in case you’re concerned that you might’ve searched the wrong place, I’ve linked the Google Maps URLs to the headings. No need to worry about any transportation expenses or location mix-ups!

Now without further ado, here are the top five restaurants I’ve been to around Nashville!

5. Black Dynasty Secret Ramen House

They were not lying about it being a secret ramen house. I actually ran into another group of people who were looking for the place in the middle of my search. Turns out the big secret is that it’s located inside the Bearded Iris brewery—now that you know, you hopefully won’t suffer in the cold as I did! Once I finally got inside, though, I had a pretty good experience. I got the miso tonkatsu ramen, which you can see pictured above. The broth was flavorful, albeit a bit salty for my taste (nothing a cup of hot water can’t fix), and the noodles had a pleasantly chewy texture to them. As for the miso caramel banana pudding, it reminded me a bit of crème brûlée! No funky miso flavor. On top of all that, the interior is really interesting, and has a nice ambience. My only gripe with the restaurant is that everything is definitely on the pricier side, but it’s a great place to visit occasionally when you’re craving a good bowl of ramen. (Advice for easing the burden on your wallet: 20% gratuity is automatically included when you order, so don’t feel pressured to tip again!)

4. Meet Noodles

Can you tell I really like noodles? Well, I do. I promise the rest of this list won’t just be noodle restaurants, though. Meet Noodles was my go-to comfort restaurant last semester, meaning I probably spent half of my meal money there. The combination of a sub-10 minute walking distance + warm Asian food is dangerous(ly enticing). They offer a great selection of Chinese noodle dishes, and I’ve never once been disappointed by anything I’ve ordered. For the indecisive folks out there, my usual order is the Shanxi sliced noodles (pictured above). I won’t go into detail about the dishes since I’ve realized that food descriptions are not my strong suit, but I’ll say this much: it’s good stuff!

3. Sitar Indian Cuisine

Something tells me that a lot of people already know about this restaurant (and the previous one for that matter), but here it is anyways! Due to my overwhelming love for rice and shrimp, I’ll admit that I haven’t tried as many things from Sitar as I have at some other places on this list. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve eaten, though! I unfortunately can’t comment on the dine-in experience, as I’ve always gotten my food to-go (sat down at a table just to get the photo lol); however, I can at least attest to the fact that they have some pretty speedy service. Overall, I’ve had a great experience, and I’ll definitely be back once I start craving shrimp biryani again.

2. OSH Restaurant & Grill

No, the duplicate photos are not a glitch. It was just the best way I could think to make sure that the image wouldn’t show up huge on everybody’s screens (so please bear with me).

I don’t think I’d ever been to an Uzbek restaurant before OSH, but boy did it set the bar high. To start off, the dinnerware is so pretty. Perhaps I’m just used to food being served on plain plates, but the matching plates, cups, and teapots felt fun and fancy to me. As for the food, all the dishes I tried over the course of my two visits were so good that writing about it is making my mouth water. I particularly enjoyed the lagman (oops that’s another noodle dish) and lamb kebab. The latter especially surprised me with how tender it was. But seriously, wow. I’m going to stop typing now so that I can think of other things that won’t make me unbearably hungry.

1. The Boba Bar

Last but not least is The Boba Bar! For everybody thinking, Wait, but that’s not a restaurant!, I’d have to agree. That being said, I really love the place (the I’ve-been-three-times-in-this-past-week-and-the-staff-remember-my-face-and-I-dream-of-their-boba-when-I-go-back-home-for-break kind of love), so I don’t care! The decor, the music, the drinks—it’s all just *chef’s kiss*. I’ve made it about a quarter of the way through the menu so far, and my favorite definitely has to be the brown sugar boba. Honorable mentions go to the peach yakult and the korean strawberry milk. Everything I’ve had has been really good, so I’m very excited to try more of their drinks.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but if you’ve got any suggestions for more restaurants I can visit, email them to [email protected]! I’d love to explore some new places (provided they aren’t too expensive). Happy eating everybody!

MCL Top 5: A Week in Review (Yik Yak Edition)

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You’ve heard of it and have most likely been peer-pressured to download one of the hottest apps for college students on campus right now—Yik Yak, a social media platform with a feed that features anonymous posts “yakked” from people in your local area. While many of the popular ones are a bit too weird and scandalous to be included in this article, we’ve filtered through the Yaks of the week to recap what’s been going on in the Vanderbubble:

1. The dreaded 🧪 gen chem exam 🧪 was the talk of Commons as all the pre-med students struggled in solidarity trying to study for Thursday night. We know you’ve seen the messages written in chalk between the walk from the bridge and Stevenson… it would’ve been more helpful to graffiti equations or whatever, but I guess it’s the thought that counts??

2. Sore topic. Enough said. Did we really want Bama, guys?? 🥲

3. It’s almost time for sweater and pumpkin spice latte weather! The walks to class in the mornings for the past few days have been perfect, but the afternoons always throw a wrench in the fashionista’s ambitious outfit plans for the entire day—see the girlies who are already wearing knit sweaters 🥵 Supposedly, it’s going to get chillier this week with lows in the high 40s and highs in the low-mid 70s though!

4. I had to balance out the HOD hate with some STEM slander 🙈 I’m sure you’ve already heard about the overexaggerated caricatures and assumptions people have about certain majors on campus… take them with a boulder-sized grain of salt if you must partake in the clownery of these two popular majors!

5. A lot of Yaks didn’t make it on here for obvious reasons, but here’s a wholesome and relatable one for all of us to reflect on 💛

MCL Top 5: Black Mirror Episodes To Watch

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Of the shows generating the most hype recently, Black Mirror is amongst the top. The show is unique in that every episode does not have to be watched in order and each episode tells its own story. The show is infamous for plot twists and innovative thinking and storytelling that often leaves us thinking about the complex issues that relate to our lives.

To give you episodes to start binge-watching, here are our suggestions.

1 – Hang the DJ

Perfect for Valentine’s Day! This episode will really make you appreciate the people in your life, especially significant others, why we chose for them to be in our lives and why they choose to stay through each day.

2 – San Junipero

This episode unravels a story that is similar to USS Callister (see below) but touches innovatively upon the controversial and frequently asked question of “If you could live forever, would you?”

3 – USS Callister

Perfect for those of you who are lovers of sci-fi films and books. It’s infused with creativity and tells a story that stands out from the other episodes.

4 – White Christmas

A Christmas special that is perfect to watch for any time, anywhere.

5 – The Entire History of You

A particularly saddening episode that portrays the very real downside to having an ability most of us probably wished we had.

We hope you enjoy!

Top 5 Things To Do In Nashville During Your First Month On Campus

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You’ve survived the madness of move in, orientation, and your first few days on campus as a whole. If you’re like me, this whole process of moving off to college has been a little bit overwhelming. Luckily for us though, Nashville has some amazing places to chill out and just let loose. Here are the top 5 ways to relax, get to know your new home, and have a good time. So grab a few Vandy first years, and check out what Nashville has to offer.

5. First Saturdays

You won’t need to be an art connoisseur to appreciate number five on our list. Every first Saturday of the month, a handful of art galleries open their doors for FREE. With over 20 galleries participating in First Saturdays, you are bound to find just about any style and medium of art to please your taste. Some of the galleries offer free drinks to cool you off after a hot day of walking around campus, and if you’re lucky you may be able to meet the artists. First Saturday takes place from 6pm to 9pm at 5th Avenue of the Arts, 5th Avenue South, and The Historic Arcade.

More Info

4. Lonnie’s Western Room

Lonnie’s is a Nashville staple that college students love. Voted the #1 Karaoke Bar in Nashville and the #10 College Bar in America, the location is a real crowd pleaser. So even if you’re young, dumb, and broke, come out and show off your best dance moves and singing.

Address: 308 CHURCH STREET, Nashville, TN 37201 (Roughly a $10 round trip with Uber)

Hours: 6pm-3am, daily

More Info

3. Fido’s

You can’t officially say that you’re living in Nashville until you hit up Fido’s for some coffee and some high end, yet affordable, grub. Fido’s menu creates a harmony between organic, exotic, and junk foods, and if you’re not ready to experience a Fido’s burger or giant whole grain pancake, then you can always rely on the tried and true latte. Just a short half-mile walk away from the Commons, you’ll find that Fido’s is perfectly located, and you might even get a rare sighting of Belmont Students hanging around, too.

Address: 1812 21st Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37212

Hours: 7am-11pm, daily

Menu

2. Broadway

Broadway, also known as Honky Tonk Highway, is a rockin’ street in downtown Nashville. With countless restaurants, junk food stops, and nightlife area, you’re bound to make many memories here over your next four years. So, don’t be intimidated by being a first year student and head on down to music row within your first month to get a true feel for the city.

Address: Corner of Broadway and 5th Ave S. (Roughly a $10 round trip with Uber)

Things To Do

1. Live On The Green

Live On The Green is a homegrown FREE concert series that Lightning 100 host. It features local artists, as well as some pretty well known names. Loads of Nashville natives attend the concert, and if you’re lucky you’ll get to meet some pretty famous artist, like Paramore. There are just two weeks left in the series, but in my opinion the last weeks are boasting the best artists. The next show is Wednesday, August 24th. It begins at 6:15pm at Public Square Park, and will go until 11pm. I would HIGHLY suggest going to this one, because you’ll be able to catch some of my favorite artists like Portugal. The Man and Spoon. If you can’t make it to this one night event, don’t fret because you can catch a whole 3 days of fun over Memorial Day Weekend. Some of the major artists over that weekend include Sheryl Crow, Future Islands, The Lone Bellow, and Drew Holcomb. You can check the whole schedule below, address, and other details below.

Address: 1 Public Square, Nashville, TN 37201 (Roughly a $12 round trip with Uber)

Schedule and Line-Up

General Festival Info

Official Spotify Playlist