The ILC’s Maiden Voyage to Vanderbilt: A day for an excursion

World Religions at the Vanderbilt Summer Academy is a wonderful experience because it exposes you to so many different perspectives and views. Today was my first time visiting a synagogue and I was excited to hear that I would also be able to wear a Yamalka, or Jewish head covering. We visited Sherith Israel, a synagogue serving the Hillsboro Village area in Nashville, Tennessee where the Canter, Mr. Leberman, let us on a tour through his place of worship.

I felt the trip was special to me because I’m a Christian and I was able to see the original people of God in their house of Worship. I learned about their customs and how their church services are run. I also learned about the Jewish feelings on salvation and Jesus. They feel as though Jesus was human therefore he couldn’t be God and that if we are good people, after our deaths we will return to the Garden of Eden where there are 7 houses waiting for us. We toured the chapels, the mikvah(place for ritual washing) , the auditorium, and we passed by the Rabbi’s office which I failed to take a picture of. Tomorrow we will visit a controversial Islamic prayer center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee which has received lots of attention in the news.

It's A Colorful World

I made sure to wake up early this morning to hurry downstairs to the Commons to sign up for our priority evening activity: Tie-dye.

Today was indeed going to be a colorful day; our World Religions class was going to have the amazing opportunity of visiting a local synagogue: the Sherith Israel.

Upon arriving at the sight, we were warmly greeted by Cantor George Lieberman, who gladly gave his time to conduct a tour of the synagogue as well as debrief on Orthodox Judaism, covering aspects such as what sets it apart from the other sects of Judaism (Conservative, Reform, etc.).

Orthodox Judaism strongly believes in a strict interpretation of the Torah, also known as the Hebrew Bible. Adherents of Orthodox Judaism, therefore, closely observe any and all Jewish holidays. They also regard many forgotten principles during worship, such as the separation of women from men during prayers.

We were led into the main sanctuary where daily prayers are held, and my breath was taken away from the intricate wooden designs and colossal stained glass windows. Although the building was a bit warm because of the lack of air conditioner, the atmosphere of the sanctuary was peaceful, secure, and very holy.

Cantor Lieberman was energetic and was such a pleasure to meet. He granted us the liberty to view a few Torah scrolls, which were all hand-scripted onto parchment by scribes. The price of Torah scrolls, I learned, could vary anywhere, from a few thousand to even fifteen-thousand American dollars.

After kindly answering a few questions from us curious students, Cantor Lieberman said goodbye as we headed back to campus just in time for lunch. I am very grateful that I had the chance to experience being in a synagogue and learn about the rituals and beliefs of such a divine faith—actually standing in the holy place and meeting a cantor allowed me to learn about Judaism in a way I never could have in a regular classroom environment.

After such an enlightening episode, I felt very refreshed and could not wait for Tie-dye Night to begin.

I had never tie-dyed before today, so after watching our proctor Malaka, our activity leader for the night, give a quick lowdown about the basics of the art, we all began twisting and tying and dyeing our white t-shirts. There was a shortage of the cloth dye, so I decided that I could perhaps salvage some of the last drops by diluting it with some water to create more. It would be less pigmented, of course, but it was something. Soon enough, Aiyana and I were finished dyeing our shirts and left them with Malaka for the night--they need to soak for a while so that the dye will sink in. I cannot wait to unravel my creation tomorrow.

Since we finished our tie-dye activity about an hour earlier than scheduled, our group decided to crash the Spa Night party downstairs.

We had fun painting our nails and putting facial masks on to relax and unravel from the long week.

Overall, today was a very fun day, and I can almost bet tomorrow will be just as enjoyable—we have yet another field trip scheduled to a mosque (about an hour drive away) and a pool party/luau in the evening. I am enjoying my engaging studies as well as the Vanderbilt summer program overall thus far. I am afraid next week may fly by just as quickly as this one did.

"The Day is Short and the Task is Great"

First field trip today! We went to the Congregation Sherith Israel, which is a Jewish synagogue. The synagogue is 105 years old, though it used to have a different location – at the Opry Center. It moved over in 1947 and has had about 3 Rabbis since the move. This synagogue is an Orthodox Judaism worship center. Orthodox Judaism is the strictest form of Judaism. The other forms are Conservative, Reformed, and Reconstructionist (a new version which allows absolutely everybody in). While listing these other divisions of Judaism, the cantor we talked to seemed to look a bit down towards the other, mostly because he feels like Orthodox is the only true form of Judaism, since it follows the Torah exactly.

The room that we were in was packed with shelves full of hundreds of Jewish texts. He pulled out huge scrolls of the Torah. He said that they were etched by hand into parchment. These scrolls run for 12,000 dollars or higher. The chapel was gorgeous with stain glassed windows depicting holidays, holy places, and other associations of Jewish history and culture. The one on the left depicts Jerusalem, and the one on the right depicts the Holocaust. We were also told of the customs and rules of Orthodox Judaism. The congregation is very stricit on who they admit and who they convert. One has to prove that they wish to be there and a part of the community. They have rules on the mourning period of families (12 months); rules of no touching with the opposite sex until marriage after one has reached puberty; rules of observing the Sabbath and also the cleansing of one’s self in a Mikvah. Something new I learned was that there was such thing as Jewish Court. They settle non-federal cases of members of the Jewish community on issues like money, conversion, etc.

Most of what the man talked about was stuff we had learned about in class. But the rules were something we were not aware of. We knew that Orthodox Judaism was strict, but not that strict. They have their reasons though. It’s the word of God through the Torah.

We continued the class discussion today with Hinduism. The religion is starting to make a bit more sense. We learned the different incarnations/avatars of God (Brahma). Hindus visit a temple usually dedicated to a particular god or goddess that is an aspect of the true One god. They worship the God that’s best for them. Make sense?

Julia and I are partners for a Minority Religions project. Our religion is Scientology. I haven’t researched enough to give a full report on it, but from what I know so far, it’s so strange. I will report back after we do more research.

Our recreational activity tonight was tie-dying t-shirts! I’ve only tie-dyed once in my life, so this was yet another blast to the past experience (the first was re-discovering my childhood memories of fish sticks). I tried to keep my colors limited to two – blue and yellowish gold. Yay Spartans! But there ended up being a lack of dye for all 20 of us, and I didn’t get to color the sections purely that color, so some white is still showing.And we all learned in Kindergarten that blue and yellow make green. I just wish that that weren't true when tie-dying, since my colors bled together. Blue dye is also all over my hands, so my clever things to say about them when people ask are: “I fought a Smurf”, “I’m actually part Avatar”, and “I am the Hindu god Vishnu”. I can really only use that last line for people in my World Religions class, since no one would know what I’m talking about otherwise.

We finished the tie-dying pretty early, so we took over the Spa-Night rec. activity. I painted my toenails and Julia did the same, plus she gave herself a face mask.

It was a fun day. I’m planning on sleeping in a bit later tomorrow and cutting down on breakfast time.

The ILC’s Maiden Voyage to Vanderbilt: The Roads to and through College

Rebecca (on the left) revealed an impressive testing history during our Seminar on academic rigor in college

I believe some of the great things about having current students and recent alumni deeply involved in VSA are that they are probably more enthusiastic about the opportunity, rather than how much it pays, they have so much pride in their school, and lastly they are the perfect people to design a college information session around because they are living it right now.

Tonight was our College Seminar Night and after spending a full day of classes discussing the ins and outs of Hinduism and an hour of learning and practicing the art of improvisation, we were able to sit down with some VSA proctors and staff in focus groups speaking on one of four issues: questions one should ask on a college tour, things to do to increase chances of getting into the college of your choice and to make Freshman year more comfortable, the academic level of college work, and the options about postgraduate education. With a choice of two, I attended the Seminars on the academic rigor of college work and things to do to increase chances of getting into the college of your choice and to make freshman year more comfortable.

Rachel answered questions in the Seminar about academic rigor in college

Kevin and Malikah were just some of the proctors that participated

The meeting was simply a question and answer style seminar, I learned that Vanderbilt offers lots of services and activities for Freshman, like the wonderful environment of the Freshman Commons, a weeklong orientation consisting of Seminars, fairs and mixers for Freshman, and Academic Advisors. I learned that a student at Vanderbilt doesn’t declare their major till the 2^nd semester in their sophomore year. I learned the importance of the application as a whole, the total package, instead of just ones test scores or grades alone. I also learned about college style test especially at Vanderbilt which usually consists of essays and no multiple choice questions. In fact some courses have no tests, just written papers.

Most importantly I learned that getting to college is a truly competitive process, even regarded as harder than staying in college according to some. Academically one must be on the top of their game at all times and one weak moment can become an off topic essay response on a final. The college experience is rewarding, but all good things come at a price.

Going Beyond

Tonight was College Night, so we had the opportunity to sign up for informational seminars regarding pertinent college material. I signed up for Questions to Ask on a Campus Tour as well as Beyond the B.S., and they were, for the most part, extremely informative.

Beyond the B.S. covered the many college degrees offered in undergraduate and graduate schools, what steps an aspiring student must do to obtain these degrees, and whether the student’s future career or direction required a certain degree or not.

I learned an enormous amount of information regarding professional degrees because frankly, I was not educated about them at all until now. Therefore I absorbed as much as I could about the different levels of college degrees, and now, I have a clearer image of the steps I need to take and degrees I need to achieve in order to reach my future goal of becoming a physician. This seminar cleared much of the thick cloud of confusion I had about my future college education, and I feel very much better informed and confident about it.

My interest in my World Religions class is constantly increasing as we dive deeper within the many major religions of the world. I can honestly say that I now have a much better understanding of faith—not simply the history of it, but the impact and reason it has in people’s lives. I have learned things about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam that I never knew before and probably would never had the chance to study much (or at all) in school or college.

We have officially begun our studies of Hinduism, and many of us walked out of class today with an aching head and question marks circling above our brows.

Because we have just concluded our analysis on the Abrahamic faiths, which share a history as well as certain aspects of worship, the introduction of Hinduism put forth completely new and almost incomparable ideas on the table.

After much discussion on the Hindu belief of Brahman and reincarnation (it is much more complicated than it may appear), we left class a bit more enlightened than before. Just a bit.

During Study Hall, however, I seemed to have reached an epiphany of some sort and my ideas about Hinduism began to click. I cannot wait for class tomorrow so I may present my conclusions and essay about the night’s reading.

Our first field trip to Sherith Israel Synagogue is scheduled for tomorrow as well, which makes me even more excited than ever. There is a dress code for our visitation tomorrow—since it is a holy place, we must dress respectfully. That means long pants and covered shoulders for the ladies, and a hat for the men (the synagogue will provide kippahs).

I am enjoying the activities and class here at VSA, but the one aspect that never ceases to put me in an indecent mood is the bug bites that no one is safe from.

Many of us have been suffering from fiery mosquito bites since Day 1. However, this day must have been one of my less fortunate ones. I awoke to a swollen left eye (which is probably not one of the best things to wake up to). I hurried downstairs to the office before breakfast with Aiyana to seek some medical attention (VSA provides exceptional student services in regards to the well-being of their students), and was given some allergy medicine to decrease the swelling. However, I found that Benadryl is not effective on mosquito bite swellings, to my dismay. I suppose I will have to walk around with a puffy eye for the next few days.

Reincarnation: Yes and No

Hinduism is one of the most complex religions in my opinion. The only defining characteristic of Hinduism is that there is no one defining characteristic. In this belief, the path to absolute is as unique as the individual. Your own spiritual path is unique to you.

To illustrate this last point, our class was divided into two groups and brought to two opposite sides of Vanderbilt campus. Our goal was to find the location shown in a class picture on campus. All we had to go on was a large, old tree; two benches; grass; and a covered pathway. Our group’s plan of action was to walk to the older side of campus, since the area where our dorms are newer. The picture seemed to depict an old location. We set off in our direction, but the opposite team got to the location first. The professor told us that the point of this adventure was to realize that everyone has a common goal to reach, but everyone has their own way or idea of getting there, depending on their own wants, beliefs, or actions. Essentially, that is what Hinduism is.

Since today is our first day trying to grasp Hinduism, my understanding of the learnings and teachings and stories of the religion are still a bit hazy. There are many circles and contradictions that are all correct. One of the things that I kind of have a handle is the form of God. God has “hundreds of thousands of multifarious divine forms of different colors and shapes” that can only be seen with a divine eye. Krishna, who is God incarnate, was revealed to Arjun (a warrior that asked Krishna for guidance) as a terrifying and frightening infinite being with infinite tusks, arms, eyes, legs, etc., and is the entire universe but is also One. BUT, for those who reach Brahman and see God through their divine eye, God can be seen in any form of one’s choice because He is a vision in your own self, in your own mind, BECAUSE you have individual enlightenment. So God is different, but is also everything, because everyone reaches God in different ways. See the circle? But to find God, you must limit distractions in your life which keep you from discovering who you truly are, and discovering Brahman, which is a spirit that lives inside all. When Brahman is discovered, the cycle of reincarnation (which isn’t good) is broken. It’s a lot to take in and understand.

Honestly, I feel like compared to the Abrahamic faiths, I can connect more with Hinduism. Even though I don’t fully understand it, I like the idea that every single being on this planet has a spirit inside of them that could lead them finding their inner selves and being close to God. And even though Hinduism dislikes reincarnation, I think it would be pretty cool to constantly be reborn into something new, and have a new life. But Hindus dislike the constant dying part of reincarnation. I like the constant living part. It’s a bit conflicting, but I’ll learn more about it throughout the week.

We learned our last dance for arête today. We’re doing our final practice tomorrow before the performance on Friday.

Kye and I played ping-pong in the common’s work out center before meeting with Ms. Bulls. Ms. Bulls checked in with how we’re doing, and made another date to have breakfast, hopefully with a Vandy College Admissions officer for California. She also dropped off cupcakes for us from Gigi’s Cupcake shop, the bakery that we wanted to go to yesterday, but was closed. I got the Wedding Cake cupcake which was pure white and pure deliciousness. I shared some with my roommate, Cat, who had a heart attack when she saw that I had a cupcake from Gigi’s.

For our activity tonight, we signed up for different sessions for College Night. I signed up for the Academic Life session and the Freshmen Adjustment session. Since I’ve been thorough many of these sessions before, I mostly learned about what majors each of our proctors went into, what classes they took, what life is like at Vandy, what activities they did, the housing choices, etc. It was more on a personal level than a general talk about the school with hard facts.