Dance The Night Away

My awesome proctor,  Jazmin.

I am starting to feel more at home here. At the beginning of this summer camp, I felt like I had to mask who I am so people wouldn't judge me. I feared that my time here would be dull and unmemorable. However, after being at Vanderbilt Summer  Academy for just 5 days, I realize now that this is an experience I will never forget. I cannot believe how much I am learning here, both in the classroom and on my own. I am growing as a student and as a young adult. 

As I have mentioned before in a previous blog, I have always adored mysteries. I used to read comic books and watch T.V. shows and movies that were mysteries. As I got older, however, time become scarce and I was forced to abandon and neglect my little hobby. I buried myself in science, mathematic, history, and literature books and thus completely forgot about how much I loved mysteries. Recently, however, my passion for it has rekindled, thanks to the class I am taking here. I am reading the works of some great mystery writers, like the legendary Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. I am sharpening my logic skills by reading fictional murder cases and trying to figure out who the killer is before the detective, and I am improving my writing skills--as well as organizing my mind-by writing my own short mystery story. 

I have also learned that it is better to be a social nomad than it is to adhere to a single group of friends. By sitting with different people every day, I have met different people and discovered how to adapt in different social situations. I have made many friends and now I am comfortable enough to be myself around those friends. I no longer need to mask myself. 

Tonight, after dinner, we had our first major social event of the camp: a dance. It was usual, and I mostly stayed in my own little circle with my friends. I wandered through the throng every once in a while, but eventually the crowd of people got too thick to penetrate. Anyway, they played songs that were unfamiliar to me, but I danced anyway. I must have looked like an utter fool because I don't know how to dance, but I had a lot of fun. It was a good way to relax after classes and get to know people better. 

 It was preceded by a showcase of all the Arete classes we have here. It was interesting to see my fellow camp members go up on stage and reluctantly share what they learned in their Arete classes this week. Although I could tell some of my peers were cursing themselves inwardly for having to preform such awkward tasks, everyone's acts were received warmly with a round of applause. 

The lovely girls in my proctor group. 

Vandy Cohort at the dance party.