Nice Dinner, Even Better Seating Arrangements

I'd like to primarily put some emphasis on how amazingly arranged the tables were because they allowed for great conversation with the incredible people I enjoyed dinner with at Town Hall last night.

I was met by a rather large group as I arrived at the El Cerrito BART station with my sister, happy to be right on time. Everyone did introductions: UChicago and Vandy cohorts, parents, ILC alums, and chaperones. This was my first time finding out who the Vandy cohort chaperone was going to be, and I was pleased to finally meet her.

After a few minutes, we started heading to the platforms to board on the Millbrae train towards Embarcadero. Before the train arrived, I conversed with Jennifer, our chaperone, and found out she's a new teacher this year at De Anza High School but was at Kennedy for a very long time.

On the train, I sat next to Ryan Cutter, an ILC alum from Hercules and soon to be a freshman at UChicago this Fall. We talked about his experience at UChicago last summer and what made him want to apply there. He had some great stories to tell and I was impressed by how personal his essay was for his application, it's no wonder he got accepted. I also talked a bit to Alice, who also will be attending UChicago in the Fall, about applying to colleges and how it feels when a college really fits.

With so many things to talk about, the BART ride felt very short, and after walking a few blocks we were outside of Town Hall. On the walk to Town Hall and at the reception, I talked to Jahnvi about her summer at Vanderbilt last year. She spoke highly of the many dining options available just outside of the Vanderbilt campus, for when VSA students are allowed to go out. Also, she told me VSA hosts 2 dances, one at the beginning of the course and at the end. I think events like that are exciting because they're opportunities to meet people.

When everyone had arrived, Don had already set all the cards down for the seating arrangements. Unlike the dinner I attended last year, there were several round tables. I promptly found the one with my sister's name and mine. I noticed I was sitting right next to a Vanderbilt alum, who graduated in 2012, Lucas Scholl. I also noticed across from me would be sitting a familiar name, Michael Terry, who has previously interviewed me and is actually one of the Ivy League Connection Sponsors. Next to him was another sponsor, Scott Berge and his wife Michelle Berge. 

As everyone found their seats, I introduced myself. It was actually very easy to make conversation with everyone at my table, which I was extremely glad about. Lucas Scholl graduated from Vanderbilt after studying Economics and now works for a company named TruTag Technologies. It was interesting because Michelle Berge actually works at McKesson which is a health care company that sells pharmaceuticals and TruTag produces invisible and edible bar codes that can be used on things such as medicine. 

Listening to what Lucas had to say

Lucas told me so many things about his time at Vanderbilt and the opportunities they offer and some history about the school as well, which I thought was really useful. He spoke highly of the Math department at Vanderbilt, which is something I'm curious about, but also life at Vanderbilt. He said that coming from North Carolina, he wasn't really into country music, but he left Vanderbilt a country music fan. Also, apparently hockey is extremely popular in Nashville and Vanderbilt students often get tickets a discounted price. Even more on sports, Vanderbilt was once going to take down its football stadium to build a library on top to emphasize academics, good thing they didn't. I hadn't taken into consideration how much school spirit Vanderbilt has along with being really well known for its academics. 

The conversation was always engaging mostly because Mr. Terry had several questions that led to either laughs or insightful answers. I didn't only learn things about Vanderbilt, such as their Alternative Spring Break option or Law school opportunities, but also advice on choosing a career. Both Scott Berge and Mr. Terry work at Architecture firms in both management and design, and they both explained to me what they loved about Architecture and what led them to it. I'd never thought about it, but for them, Architecture also includes how space makes a person feel.  

If it was possible, I would go on endlessly about how amazing the dinner went for me. I learned so much, far more than I could put into words for a blog. It made far more excited to visit Vanderbilt than I was before and opened up my options a little more as well as far as what I might want to do. 

the Vandy cohort with the 4 great alums outside of Town Hall