Last Day, Best Day

Wednesday was our last Soft Night. That afternoon, Hawi was in the mood to play, so for the first hour of freedom we pranced around the lawn playing tag and hide and go seek. Despite the campus' openness there were many nooks and crannies to hide in - we sure had fun releasing our inner child. The second hour, we walked to Barnes and Noble since our friends wanted to purchase some Vanderbilt merchandise. Although our outing wasn't out of the ordinary, it was emblematic of the silly nature of the friendships we've made at VSA. On our walk to and from the campus we took turns choosing songs, danced, and laughed at one another's jokes. I'll cherish these memories forever. 

Final Day Shenanigans

Thursday was our last full day at VSA. In my Novel Writing class we presented our novel pitches that we had planned the day before. Dr. Jan wanted to mimic the assignment around what authors may do at conferences: consisting of  a synopsis, a prospective agent and publishing company for our novels,  a novel competition that we'd like to submit our novel to, a query letter, the next steps for our novels, and what we learned. A literary agent is someone that author's hire to pitch there novels to publishing companies. A query letter is a letter written to an agent or publishing company seeking representation for your novel or to suggest writing ideas. This presentation helped familiarize me with the publication process - it's less foggy and I see it as an attainable goal in the years to come. My goals for my novel are to work, at the minimum, 3 hours a week; have friends and family revise my work; complete my first draft; revise, revise, and revise; then submit the completed novel to writing competitions and consider seeking an agent. The presentation went well: I felt confident with my novel and my material, my classmates picked my mind with interesting questions, and afterwards my teachers remarked that they enjoyed my presentation. 

That evening we attended a closing ceremony where we were congratulated for our hard work and accomplishments. I felt so much gratitude for the people who spoke to us about why they love VSA and why they keep coming back; they reminded us of what a beautiful community VSA is and how it's fit with people from different backgrounds, with different interests, and all positive and thoughtful intentions. I forgot that I was immersed with such bright, kind, and genuine individuals and I realized how different this experience has been from high school - it will be missed. 

The night ended with a dance. In our casual dresses we sauntered into the 80's themed dance floor, the lights were dim, the music loud, and the environment supportive but their was lingering sadness in the air. We danced the night away to a mixture of 80's and contemporary music. Hawi picked up a Yo-yo from the prop table and at the best times began letting it fall from her hand to add to her exuberant dance style. 

Our friend group!

Friday morning, we ate our last breakfast together and said our goodbyes on the patio to those departing to the airport. Luckily, our closest friends who lived on our floor - Meghna and Abbey- were leaving a few hours later, just like us, so we had more time to bathe in each other's presence. All packed up from the night before, we sat in the empty dorm rooms, played a few last game of cards and laughed before it was time to go. Although I was sad the last few days, it was a good sadness where my heart felt happy and full. I didn't feel like crying nor was I prepared. When Meghna's Mom walked through the dorm room and it was time to say our goodbye's I burst into tears, the same happened with Abbey. 

When Tori came walking down our dorm hall, Hawi and I embraced her, overjoyed. We grabbed our luggage then traveled to the floor above us to fetch Audrey and Anna. In the elevator, Tori surprised us with some interesting information - our connecting flight from Chicago to Philadelphia had been canceled. She wasn't sure what we were gonna do and neither did Don, she was informed of the unexpected turn of events only an hour before.

We drove to the airport, not entirely sure what we were doing, but we had a few options and ended up deciding to fly to New York then take the train to Philly. We spent hours waiting for our flight to New York, during which we ate food, talked to Tori, watched TV, played cards, and roamed the airport. Other than unwelcomed turbulence, the flight was uneventful. Once in New York, we drove to the train station, my nose was plastered against the window the whole time. I've never been to New York and was enraptured by the soaring buildings and bright lights - I was getting Mexico City vibes the whole time.

Outside the train station in New York

Waiting at the train station was worse than the airport. It smelled like fecal matter in some corners, was dirty, and much less cozy, not to mention it was 9 p.m and we were all exhausted. We spent the hours blurring out the train station with more comedic T.V shows. The train ride was pleasant, but we longed to be in a hotel bed. At around 1:30 this wish was granted.

Tired faces

On Saturday, after a well rested night we strolled down the warm Philadelphia streets to get breakfast at a quaint cafe then headed to our tour of University of Pennsylvania. The campus is very beautiful: there is plenty of greenery, old buildings, and friendly faces. First, we attended an information session where we learned the principles that UPenn operates under. They value students who wear many hats - they want a community filled with versatile, open, and bright students. Beth, our information session presenter accentuated the idea of students being mini Benjamin Franklins - the founder of the school, a philosopher, scientists, inventor, politician, the list goes on.

University of Pennsylvania

What I appreciated the most about UPenn was when our tour guide Brianna mentioned its supportive community. Whatever background you are from, problems you face, or story you want to share UPenn has a place for you. Professors live in the dorms near students, offering tutoring,  mentoring, or someone to have dinner with. Undergraduate students are also provided with two tutors during their four years in any subject. And there are plenty of organizations for an individual's religious, racial, sexual, or social identity. Accommodations are made to welcome students with wide arms to the UPenn community.

Following our college tour we had a quick meal then drove to Eastern State Penitentiary. The prison has towering rock walls and a Gothic castle-like entrance. The prison, at the time of its opening, was a revolutionary system. Inmates were kept in solitary confinement and given an hour of exercise time, this drastically contrasted the previous system where individuals were kept in a large chaotic room where they waited until they received a shameful public punishment or a disturbing death.

A dilapidated prison cell

What I enjoyed about the tour was that our tour guide, Brittany, emphasized that the museum is centered around planting a seed of conversation around the current prison system. She didn't steer us in any direction, but instead wanted us to think for ourselves how we can alter the prison system and seek better rehabilitation for inmates. I've always been interested in America's prison system: the high rates of mass incarceration, disproportionate amount of inmates who are people of color, the school to prison pipeline, and the privatization of prison. Those are just a few of its problems. Everyone has there secret radical view, mine is that I'm an advocate for abolishing the system and rebuilding it from the ground up, but that's another conversation.

In the evening, we headed to the the Philadelphia Observation Deck where after waiting in a long line and riding a cramped elevator up to the 57th floor we viewed the scenic Philly skyline. We arrived just as the sun was setting and were able to watch the light blue haze turn golden red then darken. The observation deck gave a 360 degree view of the towering and small buildings, the bodies of water, small cars, and distant suburbs. Although there were many annoying people who decided to stand in the way of the view and simply take pictures of themselves, I was still content with the gazing out the window and watching the convoluted city. Our lives and worries seemed so small in comparison to the vastness of the city.

The Observation Deck

Payton's Potatoes

Monday started earlier than most of my mornings here, I had set my alarm for 6 in order to get some time to work on my speech, having given myself a break the night before.

I crept around the room trying not wake up Caroline and silently began to transfer my speech to note cards, trying my best to internalize the words as I scribbled them down.

Time flew by, and before I knew it, we were once again sitting in the plush red chairs of our classroom. We were given additional time to work on our speeches in the morning, and with our speeches starting the next day, and the dreaded sign up for speech times began. 

Once we arrived back from lunch, Dr. Koch decided that the best course of action was to draw names from a hat to overcome the nerves that kept many of us from volunteering for the first day. I had already written my name down for Tuesday and so I had nothing to fear, but the anticipation in the room was palpable. The rest of class passed with more discussions and a more time spent reciting our speeches to the hallway walls. 

The hallway where we practiced

After class, we had some free time, which despite promising myself I would spend on my speech, at least half was spent playing cards with Ana and Hawi, along with catching up about our classes. We also spent some of the time rushing to the place where sign-ups for our evening activities would be taking place, people at VSA do not mess around, and despite showing up a half hour early, we were not the first ones there.

Before long, dinner had arrived, and while Ana, Hawi and I had gotten the activities we wanted, Anna partook in some quick gymnastics to sort out a snafu in hers. 

The activity had everyone assume a role complete with some information they could share, and a secret that they were meant to keep private as long as it strategically benefited them. One person was assigned to be the murderer (none of us, unfortunately) and the rest of us engaged in conversations with one another to try and figure out who the evil-doer was. 

In the end, myself and a group of people did figure who the murderer was, how they did it and why, and although we were not the first group, it still came with an immense amount of satisfaction. 

We finished off the evening with an always wonderful Proctor Group Meeting and I went to sleep dreaming of the words I would be reciting the next day. 

Today was much harder to start than yesterday, I had grand intentions of waking up waking up early again, but the nerves, or the warm bedding, or something else kept me hitting the snooze button. 

The morning passed in a blur for me, full of breakfast, speeches, rebuttals, (one of which I did) and a healthy heaping portion of nerves, as I would be speaking right after lunch. 

On the way back from lunch Ana and my classmates reassured me that everything would go well, and before I knew it I was standing up in front of the class, beginning my introduction. I could not have predicted how much standing up in front of just 14 classmatescould fill me with what Dr. Koch calls communication anxiety. My hands shook, and I am sure my voice wavered, but as I went along my confidence increased, and by the end of the speech I had managed to make it on time without any major hiccups. Success! 

I listened to the rest of the speeches intently, relief had washed over my body. 

The afternoon was spent working with Julie on a top secret project for Payton (our proctor and a wonderful human). We had begun collecting materials for this project the night before, but it was time to set our plan into motion. 

We would be creating a stuffed potato pillow, complete with signatures from all of our proctor group and a sweet message. Way back on day one we had branded ourselves, "Payton's Potatoes" and the name stuck, working its way into almost all of our meetings from then on. 

Payton showing off the back side

Tonight was Proctor Group Night, so it seemed an appropriate time to present our small token of thanks to Payton, knowing how much she loves surprises and heartfelt gifts. 

We must have chosen right, because Payton was over the moon at her gift, and we were lucky enough to catch her reaction on video, involving lots of high pitched noises, hugs, and smiles so big they could light up the world. 

The front of the potato complete with her bow

My evening concluded with goofy conversations involving Payton, Julie, and Kate, and immense gratitude for being exactly where I am right now, and with the people I am with. 

Exhaustion, Mystery, and Friends

As VSA winds down, so does my energy. Monday morning I struggled to get out of bed and even found myself clicking the snooze button on my alarm, like I do during the school year. I wasn't the only one who was drowsy—my 17 sluggish classmates and I sunk into our chairs as Dr. Jan welcomed us with her usual pep. Our lethargy surely didn't get past her. She startled us by asking, "Are you guys okay? Am I boring you?" The weekend high got the best of us but Dr Jan knew how to snap us out of it—she reached behind a stack of books and pulled out leftover popcorn, Sour Patch gummies, and M&M's from our movie a few days ago. Munching on snacks cured us of tiredness. 

In class we spent time working on a part of our final presentation, a synopsis of our novels. We participated in a three phase exercise where we first described the location of our novel, then the characters, and lastly we combined the two with a summary of the entire novel. A synopsis isn't simply what one reads on the back of a book, instead it tells the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. It's challenging to condense my entire story into one paragraph without  making it seem mundane.

On Monday night I chose murder mystery as my evening activity. It was a real life game of Clue, we were assigned roles and given snippets of information. The scene was as follows: researchers, professors, and students were invited to the home of Cornelia Vanderbilt for a dinner party, after one of the party guests dropped dead from ingesting poison, it was known that their was a murderer in the room. The cops were delayed by the stormy weather, so the party guests had a few hours to spare to put the pieces together and solve the mystery. The story is a bit convoluted, so I'll spare you the explanation, although unsurprisingly the murderer turns out to be who you least expect. 

Call me Professor Matthews.

Instead of our usual After Class Activity, this week we have an extra hour of free time before dinner. I decided to be productive and used the two hours to work on my summer assignment for AP Literature and work on my novel. With my earbuds in, I sat in a cozy lounging chair and clacked away at my computer. I forgot how much I enjoy time to myself, these weeks have been so busy that I hadn't had time to sit down on my own without the presence of others. As much as I love being with people, I think it's also important to have a fair share of alone time - I bathed in that luxury today.

A view of the evening Tennesse sun.

Tonight, instead of regular dinner we had Proctor Group Night. We went out to dine at Cabana, a local restaurant. What's special about this eatery is that there are booths carved into the wall for customers to sit in, a curtain for privacy, and an aux cord to jam out to music without bothering other patrons. I ordered ricotta ravioli (isn't that fun to say) and was disappointed when I saw a mere 5 pieces on my plate. Although stingy, the food was still very satisfying and I enjoyed spending time with my Proctor Group.

Our journey to Cabana.

Enjoying our meal.

Positivity!

On Friday, Dr. Jan told us that while she read through the drafts of our novels she found that we are so negative towards our own work. She noticed whole paragraphs that we've highlighted and commented "I don't like this" or "Blehh". To address this behavior, we spent the morning discussing how proud we should be of our work along with having a "Yes and.." mentality. Meaning we should take on the challenges that life throws at us positively, while also extending them by digging deeper.  Jan wants us to be proud of every word that we type and seek ways that we can improve upon our skills.

We carried this positive attitude past our writing and into the classroom with a few affirmation activities. On Friday we played a game of speed complimenting, where the premise was to out-compliment our classmates. Two people spoke over one another, spewing out compliments - if you paused or ran out of compliments you're out. One pair complimented each other for 7 minutes straight. It sure was entertaining. However, the compliments were a tad superficial and disingenuous since it was based on quantity over quality. To compensate for that, the following day we went around the circle and genuinely complimented one another. The new and improved compliment game surely brought tears to many eyes - even mine. People remarked on qualities of mine that I hadn't taken much notice to.  I also really enjoyed expressing the appreciation that I have for my classmates. I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by such kind, intelligent, thoughtful, and hilarious people.

In the midst of the 7 minute compliment showdown. 

We had our second peer review this week, with newly assigned partners. My partner, Keaston, had written a startling 39 pages while I only had 12. I'm not as far behind as it may seem, he's only farther ahead than most of us. The rest of my classmates have around 8-15 pages - writing a novel proves harder than it seems. I always get something good out of a  peer review session: I learned to be more deliberate about the actions of my characters and give the reader better insight into who they are.

Tonight VSA held a Talent Show. Performers presented songs, poems, and comedy sketches. My friends and I watched the show and were pleased by the song choices, awed by literary talent, and entertained by jokes. Although I didn't perform, I still enjoyed the show.One performer, Peter, played a song on his guitar, one that I love but hadn't listened to in ages. The second I arrived in my dorm room, I pulled it up on my phone and listened to it: The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin.

Pre- talent show picture.

On Saturday, we had a few hours of class, then  watched a movie - Isle of Dogs. The movie came out a few months ago and I hadn't gotten the chance to watch it. It takes place in a city where a disease plights the dog population, in response the governing powers mandate a decree that exiles all dogs to Trash Island.The film eerily resembles animosity to certain groups and political power used unjustly, as seen in today's world. I won't spoil the rest, but I strongly recommend it.

We watched a second movie that night, but instead of only my class it was all of VSA. We clambered through Vanderbilt's endless campus to reach a theater where we sat and watched The Sandlot. It was a rather foolish movie and we did enjoy making a ridicule of its archaic insults.

After our trip to the mall.

Sunday evening, after a visit to the mall, we had a TED Talk style presentation by researchers. I initially chose New Problems in Law, but after being told that no one signed up for History and the Human Race - I changed my selection. In the presentation, three individuals spoke to us on different topics. Rosemary Lieske spoke about her research with archaeology in Central America focusing on Spanish conquistadors and their interactions with indigenous communities. Kelsea Best spoke to us about her research on  the affect of environmental changes on migration patterns in Bangladesh. And Greg Smith spoke to us about his research in geology and the remains of animals to understand extinction patterns. From the presentations I got a better understanding of certain fields that I could delve into, along with understanding how it would be to conduct my own research in graduate school.

Lets Go to the Mall.. Today.

Friday Morning began bright and early for me, early enough in fact that I was able to sneak in a quick shower and some time in the common area before breakfast.

Friday's breakfast was special because I was able to spend it with Dr. Koch and some other students from my class chatting about debate at Vanderbilt, and debate in general. We learned about the inner workings of the Vandy team, and even left with some awesome stickers.

Class started quickly afterward, and Friday's class was quite the doozy. We worked all day on our final speeches, and I learned how easy it is to get into a black hole of research. With such a broad and hot topic as the refugee crisis (the partial subject of my speech), it seems that there is endless information, and it is hard to decide what to absorb and add to the speech, and what must be left behind due to the nine-minute time constraint. By the end of class, I was so exhausted by the 6 hours of relatively unbroken focus, that even standing in the scorching heat was a welcomed break.

The deserted row of seats at the end of class

Following class, it came time for our last day of ACE. The last day meant that we would use all we had learned about stage combat and the ways that trained fighters can trick the human eye and test our ability to decern the good from the bad and the real from the fake. We did this by watching fight scenes, a lot of fight scenes, and while I am not usually a huge fan of violence on screen or off, it was definitely interesting to look at the choreographed routines with a whole new perspective.

After ACE dinner and free time, which all passed relatively uneventfully, it was time for the major event of the day, the Tri-Wizard Tournament. This quasi Harry Potter themed showdown between V House (the best house), S House, and A House had many elements, by far the most popular two were field games and the talent show. My friends Julie, Ana, and I were all able to partake in a bit of both, but most of our time was spent watching the talent show.

Learning the rules of the game

Act after act of VSAers all talented in their own ways, sang, danced, told jokes, read poetry, and did much much more, showcasing their bravery and winning points for their house.

We returned to bed wearily, looking forward to what Saturday would hold.

Saturday began a bit later as it always does, and despite all my intentions of waking up early once again, I failed to set an alarm, and thusly failed also to wake up before 8, leaving me very little free time.

As soon as breakfast had concluded, we headed to our short 3 hour morning class and spent it in great contrast to the day before by engaging in fun mini-debates about nonsensical topics, (movies at home are better than movies in the theater, etc.)

After lunch, we had time with our TA, Marie, and she was able to arrange a quick ice-cream gathering before returning back to our classroom to recline in the cushy lecture hall seats and watch The Office to unwind.

We next had our Saturday afternoon SOFT time, and I decide to spend mine (shocker) with Anna, both of us working side by side on various projects.

Before I knew it dinner had passed and it was time for our evening activity of the VSA wide movie, complete with a big screen, popcorn, and all kinds of other free food and drink.

We traveled on foot to a nearby theater that is part of Vanderbilt and watched the endearing movie, "Sand Lot", which I would highly recommend to anyone who likes dogs, baseball, or just sweet feel-good movies.

A lit of building on the way back from the movie

Unlike a normal theater environment where most of your fellow moviegoers are strangers, we all knew each other, so plenty of people laugh cheered and commented out loud throughout the film. I actually found that this added to the experience, making it feel like one big happy gathering, fitting since the film was a throwback and not an anticipated new release.

Soon it was Sunday morning, today!

Mine began at around seven, and I did my best to be productive with the free time I had until twelve, answering some emails, drifting down to get some breakfast, working on my speech, and of course, chatting with friends.

Lunch brought me a chance to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in what was probably about 24 hours but felt like ages.

After lunch all of VSA was off to the mall, Opry Mills Mall to be specific. Along with my friends Julie, Caroline, and occasionally Anna, we drifted around the giant mall, shopping for clothes and even a plush corgi for Caroline. Julie and I did one of my favorite things to do while shopping which is to pick out the most ridiculous over the top outfits for each other and try them on, both of us ended up winners in my book.

Julie and I in our outfits

We returned to Vanderbilt to have dinner and then attend Ted Talk style lectures from all kinds of Vanderbilt students and staff who are experts in their fields. Hawi and I both chose once called New Problems in Law, in which we heard talks on the science of recognizing faces, the way that the burden of proof effects our justice system, and the intersection of philosophy and law. All three were very interesting and had us talking about them all the way back to the dorms.

We rounded out our evening with Proctor Group Meeting, including a fun game of Avalon, a group strategy and mystery game that had us all accusing each other of being evil. 

Work Hard Play Hard

Yesterday started out pretty normal, I woke up to Caroline's alarm and tried to psych myself up enough to actually move from the comfort of my bed and begin my day.

It wasn't too difficult once I remembered that class would consist of one long work session on our ideological criticism of The Hermitage to be present at the end of the day. This was mostly because I really liked my group and was pretty sure we would do a number on the problematic and manipulative rhetoric we saw there. 

By lunchtime, we had managed to finish the majority of our presentation and were feeling pretty good about what we had to do to finish up. Sure enough, we ended up polishing off our presentation not long after lunch, going the extra mile to make the slides pretty as well as complementary to our words. We told the class about our findings from the museum and then patiently listened to the other four groups' takes on the same assignment. 

My group mates, Kate and Clay hard at work.

After class, it was time for stage combat. We slapped each other's hands, kicked the air and looked as cool as possible, all under the guidance of our enthusiastic teacher Eric. By the end of class, my friend Abby and I choreographed a fight scene, and it may not have been convincing, but it was a lot of fun. 

From ACE it was quickly time for dinner, and I had a wonderful and grounding time catching up with friends and sharing about our classes. 

After dinner, we had admissions night where we were given the chance to talk to actual Vanderbilt Admissions officers, including one that would represent us if we applied here. We learned about general admissions practices for entering any college and found out that the admissions officer for the Bay Area, Brandon, will be visiting El Cerrito. It was so nice to be able to pick his brain and those of the other officers regarding the confusing and daunting college admissions process. 

Today was one of those rare days where I woke up completely naturally and even had time to take a shower and be ready with time to spare. I sat in the common room with my friend Julie who had untangled a massive knot of friendship bracelet string over the past few days and was just finishing tying it up into neat bundles so that the string could be enjoyed by all. Julie is one of those people that the world almost doesn't deserve. 

From there, my day moved quickly through breakfast, and class began with some time to work on our final speeches which will be delivered in under a week now. Our morning also included a lecture on the role of the audience in public speaking (spoiler alert, they are the most important part), as well as rhetorical devices that can be employed to make a speech more convincing and powerful. 

My friend Abbey (not from Stage Combat) during lunch

After lunch, we got back to work on our final speeches (mine will be on United States refugee policy) and viewed a historical moment in public speaking with  Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech looking out how he used the rhetorical elements and style in his iconic address.

The long hot walk to my ACE was soon upon us, and once greeted with the cool air conditioning of the Stage Combat class we quickly got down to business. 

Today we learned a choreographed fight scene that ended with my knocking out Abby and her falling to the floor, but despite the gruesome reality of our actions, try as we might we could not stop giggling the whole time. 

An uneventful dinner was followed up by another SOFT night, and another time that I stayed in. Tonight It was fondue and card games with Hawi and Ana.

My night ended with a long and delirious chat with the ever wonderful Julie, and my incredible Proctor Payton, I will certainly go to sleep happy. 

Pets, Pescetarianism, and Playing Cards

My Novel Writing class is always fun and full of surprises. On Wednesday, our teachers brought their dogs to class - Jasper and Malloy. It had nothing to do with the curriculum or the novels we're writing, it was just for fun! They were so eager and happy to receive attention and ran around the room overjoyed. Once they calmed down, we got to pet them and rub their bellies. What's even better is that Malloy and Jasper are friends, so they tossed and tumbled around the room, and even communicated to one another through barks. Jasper is a hound, so he has that deep loud bark which much have been heard by nearby classes. "What's going on in Novel Writing?" They must've been thinking. 

Our teachers featuring their rambunctious pets, Malloy (left) and Jasper (right).

I love Jasper so much, he reminded me of my dog: Jimmy. His coat was so smooth, it felt like velvet and his legs are so short that he waddled around. 

Jasper is the cutest, he even smiled for the picture!

In the evening, we had a talk with the admissions officers from Vanderbilt. I got to meet our regional admissions officer, his name is Brandon. As a rising senior, I have done my fair share of college research and have begun my application, but I always find myself with new questions, so I certainly picked Brandon's  brain. I left the meeting knowing more about the admissions process than I had before. Brandon will be traveling to the Bay Area in September and will come to El Cerrito High School, I'll see him them! After the admissions meeting we had a short panel with proctor group leaders who gave us insight  from a college student's point of view -   the different perspectives were very informative.

Proctor Panel

Here at VSA, we have had a roller coaster of diets. We began the trip with 3 vegetarians - Tori, Hawi, and Audrey. In the second week of VSA, Hawi decided to become vegan - I forget why. Anna soon jumped on the band wagon as did I.  But I wasn't as bold so I stuck to pescetarianism. Audrey became vegan for a few meals, but the desserts taunted her back into her normal vegetarian tendencies - she was the first to fall. Impressively, Hawi and Anna stuck with veganism for almost a week. But a few days ago, they dropped it. I stayed strong though, I haven't eaten meat. So, I've decided to become a pescatarin, as did Anna. It's not much different from my meat eating self. I feel good being conscious of what I consume, especially considering how problematic the meat industry (read Fast Food Nation).

We began reading a new novel in class called Never Let Me Go written by Kazuo Ishiguro. I won't spoil it for anyone, but the book is so strange, enrapturing and will catch you by surprise. I highly recommend it, not to mention Ishiguro is a Nobel Peace Prize winner. The protagonist narrates the story so eloquently and intentionally and the dialogue reveals so much  about the  characters that it's a stellar example to model our own novels off of. We even had a few writing exercises to practice intentional narration and insightful dialogue. Dr. Jan reminds us to read like a writer and think like a writer.  

Working on my novel in the computer lab.

A few days ago, Hawi taught me a card game called Gandalf. She is addicted and has gotten me hooked too. We play during break time, during dinner, and after dinner. It never gets old. Today, Hawi even taught Audrey and Meghna to play. During VSA, I have played more card games and learned new card tricks than ever before. My friends and family in California will be awed by my expertise.

Hawi, in a face mask, teaching Audrey how to play Gandolf. 

Week Two Begins!

As we enter the second week of VSA, our novels are well in flight. Now begins the hard part -  pacing our story  and coherently bringing our reader along the journey. To seek a better understanding of the foundation of our novel and where it's progressing, we created a plot map. And began asking ourselves questions and  setting tangible goals. How do we want to enhance our character dynamics? Where is this story going? What is missing? 

Since the beginning of VSA, Dr. Jan has been stretching our writing muscle. In an exercise, she had us assess our writing styles, then had us write in a completely opposite style. I'm an expository writer, I love description and dread dialogue. In this exercise, I left my comfort zone and wrote in dialogue, to my surprise I enjoyed it. Instead of simply saying that the streets were overflowing with voices, one can show this by documenting the dialogue of the many voices. Sometimes I can get lost in the mess of exposition, dialogue can sift through the confusion and cleanly present the information. From this exercise, I even began using dialogue in my novel. Steering away from our typical writing habits facilitates growth. 

On Monday we began our new ACE. This week I signed up for card magic and am lucky enough to have friends in my class - Hawi, Alondra, Meghna. I didn't have any skills with cards but have always wanted to learn, this is the place for me to be. We began with the basics, how to shuffle a deck and do a clean bridge. In the span of 5 minutes, I learned how to elegantly shuffle a deck, something that I had been attempting for years - I've never felt more accomplish. We also learned some new card tricks, which I will present to many and will get great pleasure from their perplextion. Although the magic and awe of card magic has now been forever ruined, I'm happy to be in on the secrets of card magic. 

Baffling our roommates with card tricks.

Monday night during soft time, there was a t-shirt making session on the first floor of our dorm. My friends and I arrived right after dinner to claim the best shirts and materials. I explored Google images for a while in search of inspiration, I came across an abstract triangular image painted on a shirt. For some strange reason, whenever I'm doing artwork I'm usually inclined to do something with triangles. I got masking tape and layed in criss-cross along the front of my shirt, to create small triangles in between the tape. I colored the areas in with fabric markers to create a spectacularly colorful triangle t-shirt!

My triangular t-shirt (left), Hawi's t-shirt (right), and Audrey!

On Tuesday night we had our very first Proctor Group Night. Our proctor group is made up of half of the girls who live on our floor, along with our Proctor Group Leader, Grace. We bundled up in comfy clothing and blankets and went to a conference room to dine on Thai food while watching episodes of The Office. A few days ago, on a whim, our ILC group decided to change our diets. Hawi, Audrey, and Anna all became vegan, while I became vegetarian (I love dairy too much). As a newly converted vegetarian, I ordered the Tofu Pad Thai. Our proctor group is made up of The Office fanatics, we knew most of the lines and even said them in unison while bursting into laughter at its ridiculousness. 

Enjoying The Office.

After an hour or so of being couch potatoes, we played a few causal riddle, guessing, and speaking games. It was nice to be able to bond with our proctor group over a frivolous TV show and games.

A Night to Remember

Today started in a much less scheduled way than the rest of our days here at VSA, instead of having a designated time to check in at our proctor's doors, we were able to wake up any time between 8 and 12 and go down to breakfast on the first floor of our dorms on our own. Because the kitchen where we get all our meals is closed on Sunday mornings, VSA has Panera bring breakfast which means pastries and fruit, and a lot of time to sleep in. 

Instead of taking advantage of the easy schedule for sleep, I used my morning to work on a presentation for class on Theodore Roosevelts inaugural address and watched the final match of the World Cup with some friends in one of the Proctors dorms. Cyndi was rooting for France, and I was not, so needless to day one of us came out of the experience in higher spirits, but the game was still so much fun for a pretty casual spectator like myself. 

That took us all the way up through lunch, and as soon as we had cleared our trays it was time for the highly anticipated afternoon activities, and as you may have guessed (or may not have) mine was the zoo. 

Cyndi posing on a Hippo at the playground

Now, in general, I do not support zoos because of what they mean for the animals that live in them, but I miss my dogs so much that I decided to give it a chance. As it turned out, I could not have made a better decision. The zoo was an absolute blast, between the goats and kangaroos that we could pet, to a hidden monkey exhibit located in one of the bathrooms, to the peaceful flamingos, and much much more. Additionally, although I have no real idea, the seemed to have pretty good enclosures. 

Peaceful Flamingos

A bathroom Monkey

After the zoo, which left me exhausted from 4 hours spent in the sun and then the rain, but always in the everpresent Nashville heat, we returned back to the dorms for a bit of downtime before dinner. 

After some more SOFT time, that was spent in once again, working on finishing up my presentation, I fell into a restful sleep, gearing for Monday. 

Monday morning started bright and early with my roommate's helpful alarm, and I tried to force my body into compliance with the VSA schedule, dragging myself through a shower and a brush through my hair. 

Breakfast gave way to class, which started with presentations, and gratefully I was able to get through mine without any major issues, and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. The afternoon offered a welcomed break from the pressure of the morning with speech delivery exercises, that involved reciting poems as dramatically as possible. 

Soon it was time for the first day of our new ACE, mine being Stage Combat, a class where we learn how to use tricks of perspective to make it look like we are fighting people. Our teacher performs and teaches stage combat professionally and he walked us through two punches and a slap to start off our arsenal.

Soon it was SOFT, this time I was a bit more adventurous and took part in t-shirt making with some friends. There was puff paint and fabric markers, and I found out just how talented some of my fellow VSAers are when given the right materials. 

A call with my parents and some much-needed sleep brought about morning again. I rose with a smile on my face because today was field trip day. We would be visiting The Hermitage or the home of Andrew Jackson in order to conduct an ideological criticism. 

We analyzed the ways that the museum ought to portray the controversial president with his infamous Trail of Tears and pro-slavery policies, and the implication of the way that the museum chooses to present him to all of its visitors. We diligently took notes and peeled back the layers of deception and indoctrination that surround all aspect of our daily lives, carefully examing the musem.

My friends Clay and Kate outside The Hermitage

A guided tour of Andrew Jackson's home concluded our time at The Hermitage, and it was soon time to get back Vanderbilt for ACE.

ACE today consisted of us polishing some of our punching skills, and adding the "John Wayne" punch along with a few others. 

Instead of going to the dining hall after free time, we had our first Proctor Group Night (which included dinner). Proctor Group Night is, in my opinion, the best thing since sliced bread, maybe better. Our group elected to spend it in, and we started off with some games, and before it was over we had all laughed, cried, and laughed some more. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of such an incredible group of women who all love and support each other so fiercely, despite only having met a week ago. 

My Proctor Group during PGN

Most groups ended at around nine, but we kept the party alive until just before lights out at 11 and had the best time the whole way through. 

So now, I write this blog, with my stomach full of ice cream, and my heart even fuller. 

Busy But Happy

Two days ago I began my day as per usual with a quick breakfast in the dining hall before class, I did, however, manage to mix up my meal just a bit, with tater tots instead of cereal. The tater tots were great, and they upheld our Proctor Group mascot, the potato. 

After breakfast, we headed to our last regular class of the week (we have class on Saturdays), It began with a walkthrough of the format of our final speech which will be on a major policy issue of our choosing. We diligently took notes on the framework of the speech, including very detailed notes on each distinct part, and did our best to absorb all of the helpful tips he gave us in order to make our speech as powerful and as well received as possible. 

My friend Ellen working away during class

Soon lunch had flone by in its usual fashion, full of laughs and the usual suspects of salads, pizzas, water, and potatoes in various forms. We returned to class and pivoted from our final speeches to a discussion and lecture on Ideological criticisms, which in  Dr. Koch's helpful explanation boils down to rhetorical critics putting on metaphorical glasses that allow them to see the values and assumptions that lie underneath the ideologies through which we all interpret the world. 

We did an example of ideological criticism in small groups to get a feel for the discipline by choosing an ideology and answering the ten key questions of an ideological criticism. My group chose to do Puritanism particularly in relation to alcohol (or in other words, the temperance movement). This proved to be very helpful in walking us through the steps as we will be conducting our own ideological criticisms when we make our field trip to The Hermitage, or Andre Jackson's house, located right near Nashville. 

When class ended it was time for the last day of this week's ACE which consisted of us taking all of the skills we had learned over past days and applying them to either a more advanced teacher-led project, or something of our own desire, with all the materials at our fingertips for the last time. I elected to follow along with the guided lesson and created quite the masterpiece on Ana if I do say so myself. 

Me posing along with my work

Following my ACE, the coveted hour of free time was used to do a bit of work for class and some group game playing with a new people who Ana, Hawi, and I met while trying to find a place to work. The game was very confusing bu Hawi joined in none the less and we all struggled to understand what was going on, still, we enjoyed ourselves in the process. 

Dinner passed quickly, and soon it was time for the main event of the day, an all VSA trip to the Adventure Science Center here in Nashville! 

The Adventure Science Center is an interactive science museum full of science exhibits that you can touch, smell, hear, and climb on or in, basically, it is my perfect museum. VSA had rented out the entire space so it was a total free-for-all, in groups of no less than 3 of course. 

We started by attacking the central climbing structure which spans several floors, seeming towering endlessly higher. The structure was filled with various science-themed interactive installations on each level, and even though many of them were sized for small children, our adventurous spirits didn't let that hold us back. 

Hawi and I at the top of the dower looking our on Nashville

The rest of the museum was also full to the brim with interesting exits galore, all of which (I think) we visited, including some on our solar system, space exploration, the human body, light, and much, much more. Overall the museum was an absolute blast. 

I took some time to call my parents before bed, this also was the day that my sister departed for China where she will be spending the next two weeks, and with all of us spread across the glob it was nice to chat with them for a bit about fermiliar topics, namely my dogs and the weather. 

Not long after my mom had said goodnight, I was fast asleep. 

Saturday started mercifully an hour later than the rest of our days here at VSA. Waking up at 8 was much appreciated because as much as I enjoy my class, getting to sleep in is a treat that if practiced in moderation, like all things, can serve as a helpful pick me up. 

Our half day of class began. Yes, we have class on Saturdays here because, as the veterans of VSA affectionately call it, this is nerd camp, and honestly my class is so interesting that I didn't mind at all. 

Before lunch, we took some time to check in with our Profesure and TA on where we were at in the several projects that we currently have underway, as well as to work uninterruptedly on those projects. This was a nice time to reflect on what we had done so far in the class and what is still to come. 

After lunch, it was time for TA time, or the two hours every week that we have to spend with our TA doing whatever our classes collective heart desires. My class chose more mafia, which we are starting to become professionals at, and later some funny cat video watching. In a very academic and scheduled environment, I have found that VSA does a great job of having time for us to just let loose, that this was a perfect example of one of those times. 

Part of my lunch today

Since it was Saturday and our ACE's were done for the week, we had a SOFT time period in the afternoon, during which I once again chose to stay in. It may sound a bit boring or like I never get out, but as an introvert, I find it really nice to have some less social time to recharge between activities. Still, it was spent it in the always wonderful company of Ana. 

After this extended free time and dinner had passed, Saturday's big daily item commenced, the first of three VSA dances, this time sponsored by S house. 

After some warm-up dancing on our floor, we all made our way to the hall where the dance was being held, with our house making a grand entrance as the last house to arrive. We entered the dance with its low lights and loud music chanting "V- House" louder and louder with every step but were soon drowned out by the volume of the room. 

On our way to the dance!

During the dance Anna, Cyndi, Maddy, and I, along with many others opted to spend most of our time in the board game room. We chatted, laughed, and played a highly coached game of checkers while the music boomed just on the other side of the wall. 

Towards the end I joined in with the dancing, bringing Anna with me, and well enjoyed singing and dancing along to some classic songs.

We returned weary and ready for bed. 

Today was another spectacular day, but in the interest of preventing this post from going on for too long, I will add it to my next one.

For a quick sneak preview, it involves petting goats, so don't forget to toon in tomorrow. 

A Long Weekend

Friday morning, our teacher announced that today we'll have a peer review of our novels. We all groaned in unison. I think Dr. Jan gets a kick out of our infantile complaints, since she readily allows us to release that energy and  smiles widely all the while.  

In the beginning of our editing process we learned that in order to avoid getting our novel backed into a corner we have to try new things. She had us practice different styles of writing. If we don't particularly write in 1st person - we should try it out, the same goes for any style that we are frightened to dabble with. I am a descriptive and expository writer who tries to stray away from dialogue - to conquer that fear, I weaved dialogue into the plot of my novel. Doing so, I felt I had built a new avenue of creativity, a new direction that my novel can run towards. 

A butterfly we spotted on our way to class.

Our second part of the editing process was the dreaded peer review - every author is fearful of what others will think of their story, as I so felt, especially since my novel isn't orthodox. My novel is about a thing that exists, it has human like sensations - can feel, see, empathize - but isn't a human. The thing has the ability to do what I call, "shimmer", where it can enter the mind of someone and peer through the window of their lives. For a short amount of time this thing can live as someone else and satiate it's need to talk to others, to be listened to, and to belong somewhere. My novel will follow the existence of this thing as it shimmers in people and it's encounter with a young girl who surprisingly the thing realizes it cannot shimmer in. My peer review partner, Kaylyn, lifted my confidence when she remarked on my novel's uniqueness and vivid descriptions, she is also enthused for what is to come. Her compliments and constructive criticism caught me by surprise and made me feel much better about what I had written, since for the past week I had been incredibly doubtful of  myself. Kaylyn herself has a great novel about the life of a girl following the death of her father. Her insights have given me a new inspiration to keep up with my novel. Stay tuned for more about my novel, when I finish my manuscript I'll post the link on this blog. Hopefully it'll turn out well!

That night we went on our first VSA field trip to the Adventure Science Center, a fun interactive museum to teach children of the wonders of science. The whole museum was reserved for VSA, giving us the chance to run around like children without trampling or frightening any actual children. The museum was featuring an exhibit on the human anatomy. There was a huge play structure, where we crawled through the human heart, bones, and veins. Since the park is meant for people of smaller size - children - there were times when I felt very claustrophobic and could not be inside the bone for much longer. 

Audrey and Hawi at the top of the human anatomy structure at the Adventure Science Center. 

On Saturday we had a shorter day of class. We spent the morning with a fun writing exercise then watched the movie Pride and Prejudice. Our class got way too excited about the romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, where we leaped in our seats whenever the two interacted. We even kept a point system to calculate who mustered up the most courage to say a snarky comment or confess their love for one another. 

At the end of the day we had our first VSA dance. It was located in a dimly lit building decorated with lights and safari props - it was a Jungle theme. At first, the DJ was playing music not fit for dancing, so we awkwardly stood on the dance floor attempting to get riled up about Bohemian Rhapsody - don't get me wrong, that's a great song, just not fit for a dance. The DJ soon had some sense knocked into him and began playing more suitable songs, the room was alive with singing, dancing, and laughing. I myself had a great time and enjoyed dancing with Hawi, Audrey, and Abbey. 

Although we did not have class on Sunday, we still had an eventful day. Thankfully we had the opportunity to sleep in. I was woken at 8:30 by some text messages and decided that early in the morning was the perfect time to work on my novel. In the span of an hour I typed two pages - that seems like nothing, but to a writer, that sure is progress. 

Our empty hallway at 8:30 AM

The rest of the day was spent at another field trip, earlier in the week we got to choose whether we wanted to go to a garden, the zoo, rollerskating, or bowling. I chose bowling and so did Hawi and Mehgna. We bowlers hopped onto a bus that drove us to a nearby bowling alley. We played a few games, with a double, I surprisingly won the first. I straggled behind in the other games, as the bowling ball simply longed to be in the gutter. As many will assume, four hours of bowling can be a little much. So, after a few games, our friend group migrated to the arcade room where we played air hockey. With our tickets we were able to buy a few pieces of candy, we gave the rest of our tickets to a family with two little boys, they were ecstatic to have received more tickets. 

 The bowling alley