Skip to main content

Freshman Life Category

An Authentically Nashville Experience

Apr. 9, 2019—Living at Vanderbilt, it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole city beyond campus. But I think that one of the best things about going to Vanderbilt is the experience of living in a major city. More specifically, Music City. Nashville is a hub for music of all kinds, and it’s easy to get a...

Read more


Vanderbilt’s Hidden Gems

Apr. 8, 2019—With freshman year coming to a close, and a new freshman class preparing to enter Vanderbilt’s class of 2023, I started thinking about the reasons why I love Vanderbilt so much. Even before coming to Vanderbilt, I knew there was a lot to love about it. But once I got here, I discovered a whole...

Read more


Why I Chose Vanderbilt

Mar. 24, 2019—It’s that time of the year! No, not Christmas– It’s time for regular decision admissions!  I remember how anxious, excited, frustrated, and hopeful, etc. I felt last year during this time and I’d love to share with y’all a little bit why I chose Vanderbilt and how I did it. As the typical type-A student, after...

Read more


What I’ve Been Up To

Mar. 3, 2019—Happy March Everyone! I’m home for spring break for the week, and it will be nice to relax, spend time with family/friends, and binge on the latest TV shows for a while. That said, I do still have to work on a research paper for my first year writing seminar; luckily, though, I’m writing about a...

Read more


What I Learned by Almost Sleeping Through a Midterm

Feb. 17, 2019—I woke up at 9:39 AM to the sound of pounding on my door. Class had started at 9:35 and it was the day of our first Country Music midterm. The next six minutes were a blur. In that time, I managed to put on a hoodie, grab my backpack, rush down a few flights...

Read more


How to Make an Extra Small Dorm Room Extra Comfortable

Feb. 15, 2019—My roommate and I were at Lollapalooza, an annual music festival in Chicago, when we found out where exactly we’d be housed our first year at Vanderbilt. The envelope was a thick one, and the contents inside were mostly irrelevant. Only one thing in it mattered at the time — and that was the piece...

Read more


Weather In Nashville

Feb. 8, 2019—It’s no secret that coming to college your first year is full of surprises- especially if you move away from home and go to school in a new city or state. For me, moving from Westerville, Ohio to Nashville meant a big city, country music (unfortunately), new food, and a huge city to explore. What...

Read more


Thoughts on First Semester (And What Changed)

Feb. 2, 2019—I didn’t think a lot would change in terms of my academic aspirations during my first semester of college. I was a stubborn incoming freshman. In retrospect, that was a dumb mindset. Because a lot did change. I had walked into Vanderbilt as a pre-med student planning to major in anthropology, a subject I’d known...

Read more


A day in the life of Vandy WR Cam Johnson

Jan. 30, 2019—Year: Freshman (Class of 2022) Major/Minor: Comm Studies and Business Minor Football team number: 7 Hometown: Brentwood, TN       After meeting you in Econ class at the beginning of the semester I realized you were one of the star recruits this year. What was that process like? How did you end up choosing Vandy?...

Read more


Uncertainty in College

Jan. 21, 2019—I came to college pretty sure that I wanted to be an engineer. Math and physics were always my strong suits, and along with my logical thinking style – as well as the rest of the people in my life saying how great of a career it would be for me – it just seemed...

Read more


Free Time (& Loneliness) in College

Jan. 10, 2019—Surprisingly, one of the hardest adjustments for me when I came to Vanderbilt was the large amount of free time you have in college. Of course, Vanderbilt is a tough school but that does not mean that I do work all day every day. Especially freshman year, many of my friends and I had tough...

Read more


Why Did You Choose Vanderbilt?

Dec. 26, 2018—The big question, answered. Info added from the original post, "Why Vanderbilt?," published in October 2015.

Read more