Time For Chemistry!

Our first official day at Vanderbilt has just ended, and let me tell you; what a fast paced day it was.

I started out my day bright and early, ready for breakfast at 8 AM. However, the weather did not begin so bright. In fact, we had just had a big thunder storm that boomed throughout campus last night, and the aftermath of the storm was still apparent through the dark skies surrounding campus.

After my satisfying breakfast (the eggs are not that bad), I, along with 14 other classmates, head to a huge building, where we would be taking our pharmacology class with Dr. Michelle Sulikowski.

Not really knowing what to expect from the teacher, I sat nervously in the front of the room, waiting for her to begin. In all honesty, she was nothing like I expected her to be. She wasn’t the strict, teacher I thought she would be but a jovial woman, full of life and energy. We started off the class, nice and simple with student introductions and 'getting to know' games, like Two Truths and A Lie.

After words, the real stuff would begin – or at least a review about the chemical properties of bonds, organic structures, and functional groups. This was a load of stuff to do in one sitting and I am proud of myself for doing it. However, there were quite a few items that were completely new to me and Hannah, and familiar to everyone else. Although I did feel like Hannah and I had a disadvantage, we still managed to keep up with the class and finished all our work. In addition, chemistry is not my favorite thing in the world; however, Dr. S said we'd only have to do a lot of the chemistry stuff for today and tomorrow, and then the class will be discussion-based. I think this is great, because it will give us a chance to give our own opinions about a wide range of subjects.

After class, we had a fun activity class called an Arête. The activity changes every week, and this week, I had fencing. Before I came over, I was worried that I would be the only girl since I heard a ton of guys saying they had fencing. My fears were pointless though because when I arrived, there were more girls than boys! Anyway, today we learned the basics of fencing and got to spar with the teacher, which was very fun.

Later that day, we also had a huge activity to do with everyone in VSA. It was originally supposed to be some sort of scavenger hunt, but due to rain, we played a trivia game instead. The whole event lasted about 2 hours, and was a blast. The trivia topics ranged from music to literature to films. We also were in teams; however, our team didn’t make it too far and we only got 8^th place out of 13 teams. Nonetheless, group activities like these are great ways to get to know other people better, and ultimately, work as a team.

By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired from our classes and activities, but overall I think it has been a productive day. In all honesty though, this day has gone by so fast, I think I blinked and it was over. I have a feeling the rest of my time here in Nashville will also fly by quickly. Either way, I am really satisfied with what I have accomplished today, and I hope I accomplish just as much (or even more) tomorrow.