A Trip to Athens

This morning, we had a delightful breakfast with Mr. John Nesbitt, the former admissions officer of our very own Bay Area in California. It was a pleasure and such an opportunity to be able to sit down with Mr. Nesbitt, go over the admission process for Vanderbilt as well as learn more about the financial aid process for the university.

One of the most interesting things I learned today about Vanderbilt from Mr. Nesbitt was that Vanderbilt meets one hundred percent of a student’s financial need, and has a “no loans” policy. I admire that part of the financial aspect of Vanderbilt because it is well-known that many students, at the end of their college career, are weighed down by thousands of dollars of debt from student loans. A college education, of course, can prove to be very costly; however, with the help of the Office of Financial Aid that consists of experienced staff always ready to answer questions and even provide a prospective student with an estimate of the cost of tuition and financial aid that will be offered by the university, the process of applying for financial aid will be so much less tedious.

It definitely was a pleasure to meet with Mr. Nesbitt and learn more about Vanderbilt and all it has to offer, from its exceptional School of Medicine to its Peabody College of Education and Human Development.

Later in the afternoon, we embarked on our exploration of Nashville with our respective groups. Both Aiyana and I signed up to visit the Parthenon; other options included the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Zoo, and the Frisk Center for the Visual Arts.

We were the only group that had to walk to our location under the toasty sun - the others were a bit further from the campus, requiring buses.

The Parthenon is the only full-scale replica of the original Athenian structure. Within stands a forty-two foot statue of Athena, the Goddess of War, also a full-scale representation of the original that was lost.

After exploring the Parthenon for a short bit, we made our way outside to relax in Centennial Park. Our Activities Coordinator and proctor were kind enough to bring along some fruit punch and s’mores for us to snack on.

Though it was a rather warm day, I enjoyed it immensely and could not be more grateful for all the opportunities we have all had to this point. Time does indeed fly when one is having fun.