VSA Hooray!

The first day of VSA began at 7 AM. My alarm rang in my ear, shaking the exhaustion out of me, I still layed in bed excited and nervous for a few seconds thinking of the wonders the day has to bring.  I lurched out of bed, stumbling a bit, since this bed is elevated a foot higher off the floor than my normal bed, and began to  prepare my bag for class today fit with notebooks, pencils, pens along with other essentials: gum, Altoids, and my water bottle. 

Today, for breakfast we ate with our academic classes, I sat with my fellow avid writers and readers in my Novel Writing class. At first, it was a bit awkward since none of us really knew each other, we all stared at our plates and ate silently but soon enough as the meal progressed we got to know each other a bit and even came up with a clever classroom chant. 

The cafeteria!

After our meal we walked to class - our adventure had finally arrived! Out of the cafeteria we went, into a building, and up a flight of stairs. We landed in a small medium sized classroom with the tables combined so that we were all facing one another and big windows that lit up the room. I saw a few familiar faces from my proctor group, others from my House, and even just passerbyers that I had seen in the cafeteria or simply around. After introductions, it seemed that everyone was happy to be here and very passionate about reading and writing. 

Our class is taught by Dr. Jan and by our T.A. Danielle. We will be reading 3 novels: Pride Prejudice and Zombies written by Seth Grahame-Smith; Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen; and Never Let Me Go written by Kazuo Ishiguro. Each week we'll read a book and thoroughly analyze and discuss characters, themes, the plot, and everything in between. We'll also spend parts of our day practicing writing, along with devote an hour or two to  our novel manuscript, which we should have a solid 24 pages by the end of the program. 

In class we began by looking at the history of novels along with practicing some short sessions of creativity writing. Then we had an hour lunch break where we got to mingle with friends. Today, the cafeteria had especially good food since incoming freshman and potential applicants came to visit the campus. Some of the options were salmon, tofu stir fry, and egg rolls - I myself had the tofu and egg roll. I think the qualities of my vegetarian friends are beginning to rub off on me.

After our meal, we returned to our classes. While walking to class I usually greet whoever is walking next to me. So, I met Alex from my Novel Writing class and he's from Canada. We both listen to the same 70's psychedelic rock music and dislike running. I'm glad that I'm branching out of my comfort zone and making new friends. 

Our meal posse.

In the second half of class we began our novels, my novel has a strange plot which has not yet entirely materialized. When I get there, I'll explain the essence of my novel - for now it's just a weird idea with fragments of expository writing. 

After class we had our first session of ACE (After Class Experience). I signed up for the stage combat class, taught my Eric, who has worked on smaller foreign films and with theater productions. We learned that action movies lie to us and that  fight scenes can look quite real from the right angle,  the correctly trained actors, and the right sound effects. We learned how to throw a few punches, which we practiced with a partner. It feels silly to punch the air and inconspicuously clap your hand against your chest, but it sure does look good on camera.

After, we had a scavenger hunt with our proctor groups. We were handed a sheet of paper with riddles, questions, and locations on the campus. We had to take a picture of the correct riddle answer,  the location on the campus such as a statue or library, or anything that sheet asked us to do. We ran across campus in search of the answers and once we grew too tired, too sweaty, and the air too sticky, our proctor leader, Grace, took us to Ben and Jerry's to get ice cream. I'm very picky with my ice cream flavors, as people who know me well know that I prefer the chocolatiest of all chocolate - double brownie fudge, to be exact. I finished my first day, happy and exhausted, my tummy full with chocolate ice cream.

In matching t-shirts on our scavenger hunt!

The second day of VSA, was just as fun. We've only been here for a short amount of time but it feels like we've been here for so much longer. I say this because I feel comfortable with the people around me, my roommates, and my class.

My bedroom at home has a big window but the sunlight is blocked by trees and the shade. Here at VSA, I chose the bed near the window, where every morning I awake to the bright yellow sun. I love it. Natural morning light is so beautiful, is so refreshing, and is the sign of a great day to come. 

The view from my window

In class today we learned about an activity called Morning Pages - where you write 3 pages each morning. As a cleanse, to stir your creativity, to clear your thoughts, to meditate. I used to practice Morning Pages when I was younger, but not because someone told me to, but just because I needed a place to rant about trivial child things. It felt nostalgic to return to this practice that I dearly loved, and we'll be doing it every morning. I can't wait. 

After dinner - an hour of Hawi's shenanigans - we went to our afternoon activities. We got to decide which one we'd like: sports, movie, karaoke, cupcake making, or trivia. I was initially inclined to cupcake making; I love making and eating cupcakes. But, we signed up for our courses a bit late and the cupcake making class filled up. By the time it was my turn to choose, there were only 2 options left, karaoke and sports. Right off the bat, in 90 degree weather I am not going to run around so sports was out of the running, so by default I chose karaoke. The problem is I can't sing to save my life and am only comfortable doing so  by myself, so my plan was to cheer on singers. However, I was surprised at how fun karaoke was, although I didn't stand in front of everyone to sing, I did sing in my seat with the rest of the group to well known songs - like High School Musical and oldies but goldies. 

Charlotte singing My Heart Will Go On.

The night ended with our usual proctor meetings, where we sat in Grace's dorm room on her shaggy carpet, plastic seats, and the extra bed. We joked and laughed about the day's endeavors, went over tomorrow's schedule, and discussed a few other announcements. Wednesday, after dinner we have what's called a "soft night" where we can visit different parts of the campus, hang out  in our dorms, or go outside of campus - as long as where we are going is inside the boundaries laid out. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have time to call friends and family in California, along with check up on Tori. 

A warm Vanderbilt  night.