The VSA at Last

Today was our first day at the VSA. We didn't start out our day at the VSA though, but instead with breakfast in the lobby of our hotel, as usual.

The statue of Athena

We had a short breakfast, and walked on over to the Parthenon, where we were able to actually see the inside of it. Although it was a little chaotic and there were a lot of small kids, it was still really cool to be able to see all of the artwork, artifacts, and (of course) the 42 foot tall statue of Athena.

After checking out the Parthenon, we grabbed some snow cones and headed over to a bike renting place to ride bikes over to our lunch spot, Hattie B's. We got the bikes no problem, but Hattie B's had a massive line. The line was so bad, we decided to go to a restaurant called Urban Roadhouse instead.

Urban Roadhouse was a good restaurant, even though we hadn't been recommended it by anyone. It is my firm belief right now that there is no bad food in Nashville, only good, really good, and oh my gosh good. I think that's something I could get used to, if I had to.

The Joy Ride taxi

It was after 3 PM when we had finished at Urban Roadhouse, and we needed to get back to the hotel quickly so we could grab our bags and head over to the VSA. We at first called a taxi, but then we were able to flag down something called a Joy Ride. A Joy Ride is a golf cart like vehicle with a gas motor that functions like a taxi, you simply flag one down, sit down, and it takes you wherever you want to go. We had a lot of fun riding on it.

Once at the hotel, we grabbed our bags and went over to Vanderbilt to find the VSA. We made two trips. Joceline and I first, then Maddie and Cammie last. When everyone was there and we were ready, we headed in and began to check in. It was a pretty simple check-in process, we got our handbook, room key, key card, lanyard with the proctor name and your house on it, and a small slip of paper with miscellaneous info on it. My proctor's name is Peter Burke, and I personally believe we have the coolest group at Vanderbilt. We're all pretty athletic and seem to get along well, so I'm looking forward to spending the next three weeks with them.

The rest of the day (after checking in and dropping off all of our stuff) was devoted to opening day ceremonies. This was started off by a meeting of the entire VSA in the dome of the Peabody College, where Rosie, the head of the entire program, gave a speech and invited numerous others to come up. It was informative, and ended with a bunch of shouting by each house. Before I go any further, the VSA is split up into three houses. V house, S house, and A house. Each one contains a third of the VSA students. My proctor is the head of the V house, and I am also in V house. So is everyone on my floor. Now, back to opening day.

Arriving at the Hank Ingram house, where we're staying

We left the presentation room and went out onto the lawn in front of the Peabody College. There we played a game called "Human Scavenger Hunt." This involved a person with a megaphone shouting at everyone to say what they were looking for. For example, one such thing was "the person who has visited the most countries." If you had visited a bunch of countries, you would go up to represent your proctor group and see if you had visited the most out of everyone who had gone up. If you had, you would get points for your house.

Playing Human Scavenger Hunt, with my proctor visible on the left

At around 9 PM, we headed back to our dorms for a couple of meetings. One was presented by Rosie to the V house about safety and rules, which took place on the fifth floor (the other V house floor). Next, our proctor group went up to our floor to have a proctor meeting. This was a chill little meeting where our proctor went over some small details about tomorrow and such. After that (at about 10:05 PM) we headed to our rooms for some free time, where I am now writing this blog. Tomorrow promises to be fun!