1. What are your top three site choices, and why did you select them? Please be specific. (Suggested word count: 300-800 words)
I was immediately struck by the "Free Bird" experience. Free Bird would be nothing like anything I've experienced before, and that is why I am so taken by it. I come from somewhere between urban Kansas City and rural Kansas plains, so I've always felt that I have lived between lifestyles. My uncle raised cattle when I was little so I was exposed from a young age to the "farmer" lifestyle. By the time I was old enough to participate, my uncle's kids had grown up and out, the cattle had been sent to market and the barn was grown over. I always wished that I could have experienced a hands on connection with these farm …show more content…
What aspects of Alternative Spring Break motivate you to apply? (If you less familiar with what we're all about, feel free to review vandyasb.org and the "What is ASB?" page of this application!)
There are many aspects of Alternative Spring Break that initially drew me in.
I became interested off the bat by the service opportunity. Service has been a fundamental aspect of my life since I was a little girl and joined 4-H at 7. I found that when I come to Vanderbilt campus, this aspect of my life felt lacking. I quickly became enraptured by extra curriculars, developing friendships, the workload of classes, and working a job to pay for tuition. There were simply not enough hours in the day to maintain the level of service involvement that I was accustomed to in high school and sleep more than four hours a night. Alternative Spring Break seemed an interesting, submersive outlet.
I am really excited by the opportunity to make new friends in such a unique environment. I'm an extrovert, and I thrive off of communication. It is my firm belief that alternative experiences can foster special, long lasting connections. I look forward to making connections and sharing experiences with the variety of people that I will be exposed to at …show more content…
Revisiting painful portions of my journey to mental health was not at the top of my list coming into my senior year. I had finally found the confidence in my character to voice my opinions and had discovered what it meant to be comfortable in my own skin. I was terrified to dig up components of myself that I had worked so hard to overcome and conceal. The decision to participate in Courageous Voices was difficult, but I felt that I owed it to someone. I realize now that I owed it to myself.
Bert Nash interviewed me through a series of video shoots. After nearly a month of waiting, I saw the video for the first time at a breakfast celebrating the Courageous Voices program. I have never been more terrified and vulnerable than those few minutes in a darkened room, watching hundreds of people hear my story. I have never felt more amazed than that day either, when I realized the power of a brief moment of vulnerability. I was recently told that by telling my story, I helped raise $187,000 for mental
I was immediately struck by the "Free Bird" experience. Free Bird would be nothing like anything I've experienced before, and that is why I am so taken by it. I come from somewhere between urban Kansas City and rural Kansas plains, so I've always felt that I have lived between lifestyles. My uncle raised cattle when I was little so I was exposed from a young age to the "farmer" lifestyle. By the time I was old enough to participate, my uncle's kids had grown up and out, the cattle had been sent to market and the barn was grown over. I always wished that I could have experienced a hands on connection with these farm …show more content…
What aspects of Alternative Spring Break motivate you to apply? (If you less familiar with what we're all about, feel free to review vandyasb.org and the "What is ASB?" page of this application!)
There are many aspects of Alternative Spring Break that initially drew me in.
I became interested off the bat by the service opportunity. Service has been a fundamental aspect of my life since I was a little girl and joined 4-H at 7. I found that when I come to Vanderbilt campus, this aspect of my life felt lacking. I quickly became enraptured by extra curriculars, developing friendships, the workload of classes, and working a job to pay for tuition. There were simply not enough hours in the day to maintain the level of service involvement that I was accustomed to in high school and sleep more than four hours a night. Alternative Spring Break seemed an interesting, submersive outlet.
I am really excited by the opportunity to make new friends in such a unique environment. I'm an extrovert, and I thrive off of communication. It is my firm belief that alternative experiences can foster special, long lasting connections. I look forward to making connections and sharing experiences with the variety of people that I will be exposed to at …show more content…
Revisiting painful portions of my journey to mental health was not at the top of my list coming into my senior year. I had finally found the confidence in my character to voice my opinions and had discovered what it meant to be comfortable in my own skin. I was terrified to dig up components of myself that I had worked so hard to overcome and conceal. The decision to participate in Courageous Voices was difficult, but I felt that I owed it to someone. I realize now that I owed it to myself.
Bert Nash interviewed me through a series of video shoots. After nearly a month of waiting, I saw the video for the first time at a breakfast celebrating the Courageous Voices program. I have never been more terrified and vulnerable than those few minutes in a darkened room, watching hundreds of people hear my story. I have never felt more amazed than that day either, when I realized the power of a brief moment of vulnerability. I was recently told that by telling my story, I helped raise $187,000 for mental