The Beginning

Today, I began the day refreshed and energized after a pleasant night’s sleep.

We decided to have breakfast at IHOP, which was conveniently located near a Wal-Mart. After we finished eating, we made a stop at the store to pick up a few items that we needed, including pillows, alarm clocks, and some snacks, which really came in handy later on in the day.

Check-in at Vanderbilt’s Hank Ingram House was relatively fast, along with moving our things into our dorms.

Carrying plastic Wal-Mart bags after bags into our dorms was hilarious. Eventually, I was all settled in and met with our proctor group to begin a short tour of the university.

Vanderbilt surprisingly has a large number of hospitals and medical centers on campus—it’s not a surprise though, since their medical program is very prestigious.

After the tour, we gathered for dinner in one of the dining halls and enjoyed a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. I also tried a cherry-flavored snow cone. Later, all the proctor groups gathered in a small theater and the Opening Ceremony began. The proctors put on a few funny skits to remind us of the strict VSA rules.

Afterwards, our Activities Coordinator set up a game for us at the large green field outside the hall. Our house, the V-House, won with the most points, which was very exciting.

We had a proctor meeting in our proctor’s room and further discussed the regulations of the program.

After a quick shower (showering in flip-flops is rather strange to me), it was past 10:30 PM, and now I am stuck in my room until morning. I ate some crackers I got from Wal-Mart, hungry since I did not finish all of my dinner.

I hope tomorrow will be fun, and am excited for breakfast.