How our project came to be... Beyond Tutoring

     On Wednesday nights last year, a group of Vanderbilt freshmen tutored a group of underprivileged kids ages 5 – about 14 who attend public schools here in Nashville. As the year went on, I got to know a lot of these kids and discovered that a lot of them are very bright!


     This made me think about my own education and all the factors that played into my academic “success”. I thought: What if I had been born into a household with one parent, who has to work too many hours to provide for the family? What if I didn’t have the encouragement from my parents to do well in school and go to college, not necessarily because they don’t care, but because they are simply too busy working to be able to afford basic things like food and rent? What if I was raised in a community where I didn’t know many, if any, adults who graduated from college, or even high school?


     Wow. I would be in a totally different situation. But that is the background many kids face, and unfortunately they have to try to overcome that by themselves. I realized that these kids not only need help with their assignments due this week, but they need someone to set an example for them for the future. To tell them that school is important, that an education is powerful, learning actually can be fun, and just let them know that there is someone in this community that truly cares. That is why our name is “Beyond Tutoring”, because we know that the short time we will be able to spend with the kids, helping them pass their classes for one year is just not enough. It is like the saying, “give a man a fish and he will eat for the day, but teach a man to fish and he will have food throughout his life.” We face the same situation: We need to help the kids with their immediate homework, but more importantly, we need to show them the value of education, help them set academic goals, and encourage them and be an example of how to achieve those goals. We need to go beyond tutoring with these kids to really make a difference for their lives.

- Laynie Boland, Beyond Tutoring on 12th Ave

Attention, Row!

My name is Andrew, and I'm part of the Row Row Row Your Boat VIP project. We're a group of friends on the Vanderbilt Crew Team who are examining a question that crosses all of our minds at one point or another: Why do people row?

With the season starting back up, that question crosses my mind more than ever. Only a few days after we moved in I spent eight hours getting sunburned and waxing boats. And did the same thing again a week later. After many of us spent the entire summer off the water, our first rows were somewhat rough and not the enjoyable rows about which we all like to tell people In addition to all of that, we're busy recruiting for our freshmen squad. How am I supposed to tell someone else to row when my relationship with the sport is best described as love/hate?

I believe everyone in our group has asked themselves a lot of these same questions. Yet we all still go out six days a week, rain or shine, and work as hard as we possibly can for our own little corner of glory and collegiate club rowing fame. Now more than ever I'm glad we've decided to take a closer look at the oldest intercollegiate sport.

Are you in the mood?

     This is Allie O reporting for In the Mood for Food. We are a group of ten girls who want to explore our relationships with each other and food in depth. Basically, we ate together all the time and now we want to delve into how it affects us and learn about all of the yummy foods that are out there!
     This past week or so has been comprised of making schedules, assigning tasks, and trying to get everyone on the same page. We made a beautiful collage of foods (sprinkled with some pictures of ourselves) that represents our group and its goals. Luckily, there are a few who are craftier than I who took charge of that one. I think the ability to divide and conquer will prove to be a key characteristic of our group; some will be crafty, some will be literary, and everyone will be foody.

In the mood for sushi :)

     We have Taylor heading up the community learning aspect of our project. She is meeting with the Dismas House tomorrow to work out plans and we are so excited to get out and contribute! (With food, of course.) AND we will be starting up our Internationally themed month very shortly! I am excited to see all of the different things we are going to eat and learn about. Oh, the places we'll go!

Greetings from Asian Voice

Hi, everyone! I’m Ziqian from the Asian Voice group. This is the first official blog of our group, and I’m writing it with excitement!

Although it is only the second week of class, we already have a lot to do. Due to the reason that almost half of our group members were not able to go to the workshop last Tuesday, we were kind of behind schedule last week. And some of our group members were not quite clear about their responsibilities. But thanks to our group representative Yijing, who informs us about our tasks via e-mails and face to fac conversation, we are able to catch up with the schedule.

Our group met several times during the weekend for the collage. This is our first co-working task. We are divided into three groups. Each group includes two or three people. The first group’s job is to find some photos about Asia. The second group’s assignment is to design the collage. And the last group is responsible for making the collage. It is a challenging assignment to create a collage of Asian culture topic. We wanted to design a unique collage which can reflect the specialty of Asia. After hours of work, we finished the collage. And it’s almost exactly the same as we depict in our mind. To be mentioned, by working in groups, we are able to finish the task efficiently.

  Well, that’s all. And we can’t wait for the last task! We like challenges!

VIP WORKSHOP -- The Beginning

The VIP Workshop started the new school year off by meeting new students and planning projects. Although the session lasted three hours, I enjoyed getting to meet the VIP participants for the first time, learning more about their group dynamics and the individuals in them.

After the large group meeting with a powerpoint and lots of details, the students broke down into their own project groups. I believe that this time was especially integral in reconnecting students and sharing new ideas. Plus, the group began to start their collage projects, which are going to be finished this Tuesday. And I am super excited to see them! During this time some groups, also began planning for events during the school year. Shawn and I asked the project to complete a large agenda in these small groups, so I was quite impressed when they actually finished the majority of these assignments. Below is another photo of a group during their break-out session.

But I cannot forget to share about the catered dinner that we had after our workshop. In the Vandy / Barnard lobby, Shawn booked one of the best caterers in Nashville, and the great reputation certainly was not a falsehood. I believe it gave me the opportunity to meet more of the students, since that Tuesday marked my second-week on the job and in Nashville. Hopefully, the next few posts will be given by students highlighting their own experiences in the early planning stages. And last picture is from the dinner given after the workshop. Written by: Erica Cain

VIP Workshop

Can't wait to get started with the VIP Kick-off Workshop on Tuesday! I haven't gotten to meet many of the program's students, so I will be thrilled to work with them...And to have a tasty free meal too! The menu looked amazing when I saw it.

Mostly, although it is always difficult to start over in a new city, I think that working with VIP will help me not only meet people but also learn about all the resources Vanderbilt has to offer. Plus my supervisor and the student's advisor, Traci Ray, always is up for new ideas, allowing my job to be simpler. And even though VIP is a new program, I believe that this second year is going to make a great impact on the students and in the community. How exciting!