This date has been on my calendar for MONTHS! Even moving to Nashville hasn’t made it feel real yet. Orientation though? YES! I’m in graduate school, at VANDERBILT! 🎉
On Monday I arrived on campus early to make sure I could find parking, and to get some clerical work done for my TA position. One of my first tasks was to set up wifi on all of my devices- I’m proud to say that after a few tries I got it all working by myself! There used to be a day that I’d run to the nearest IT office, but no longer 👍🏻 I spent some leisurely time hanging out and eating my packed lunch before orientation started at 12:30pm.
I can’t say that I’m loving the weather…yet! It is SO HOT AND HUMID 😓 The first portion was a welcome under a tent out on the lawn. There were packed lunches there, and we sat within our departments and areas of study. After some introductory remarks, I went with most of my cohort to watch the total solar eclipse! Nashville was the biggest city in the path of totality!
It is hard to describe how truly amazing it was to witness such a unique astronomical event! In a later orientation session, a faculty member asked us to come up with three words to describe it. My two words are awe & humility!
After the eclipse, we (as a cohort) made our way to the University School Nashville, a K-12 building on campus, for more orientation sessions. These afternoon sessions were not as fun as the eclipse, but I will say that’s a hard act to follow! 😜 We listened to presentations from Peabody Career Services and lots of other Vanderbilt resources.
The tastiest part of Monday was the well-known orientation fajita party! It was delicious, and there were many campus representatives there. I milled around and purchased my season tickets to the football and basketball seasons.
Tuesday began with a stop to Human Resources across campus to finish up my employment paperwork, and to flash my passport. I made my way back across campus to Wyatt (a building I’m sure you all will become *very* familiar with 😂 👌🏼) for our department and program orientation. We had a nice breakfast with a few speakers, and then broke off into our specific cohorts. In my Reading Education cohort meeting we covered scheduling items, practicum details, and were able to meet some professors that we will have in class either this semester or later on. Overall a very information-heavy day, but all essential!
I went home for lunch, then came back to campus to work on this blog post and meet with my TA professor. I don’t have any of my classes tomorrow, but my TA class does meet!
It absolutely merits a note– Vanderbilt, and especially Peabody, is SO welcoming! All members of faculty and staff have made a point to tell us that we are here because we are scholars, leaders, and agents of/for change. I can’t really say that my undergraduate experience at SDSU really stressed any of those things. It feels good to know that my personal and professional values align so well here.
Applying to graduate school was something I did “on a whim” for lack of a better phrase.The prestige and renown of the education program and faculty were the initial attractions of Peabody. Vanderbilt was the only school I applied to, and though my acceptance did initially surprise me, I am immensely proud of the people and experiences that have led me to this place. I feel so perfectly at home and supported that it was clearly meant to be 😊
Maggie's Musings & Moments 