*stream of consciousness*
First weekend at Vanderbilt is over… I’m alive and all is well.
The school? Everyone is pretty awesome… warm and inviting. There are 6500 students on campus and I’m sure I haven’t encountered a mere fraction of the diversity here. Transfer orientation is almost through… tomorrow we have an community service fair, student organization fair, and a greek life info session. I’m seriously considering active participation in Model UN and the Debate club… as far as greek life goes… its dependent on the chapter and how well I click. This is obvious stuff, but I am not a conformist, and I shudder to think I need other men to reaffirm my self worth and esteem. I want to be around men that support and reinforce it. So we’ll see how that goes. There’s always the typical stereotypes, but I do my best to avoid falling into those traps.
Economics and Philosophy… that always gets mixed responses. Some people associate Economics with Math, while others view it as a theoretical practice that coincides with some degree of philosophy. I am dead set on that combo until the econ courses convince me otherwise. I do plan on taking some mathematics… I am a little hesitant to take math classes here… only because its vanderbilt, and I’m not a math major. BUT, I would like to reinforce my economic studies… and math is the best way to do that. My adviser suggested I take as many as possible… we’ll see. I still must fulfill the AXLE (achieving excellence in liberal education) requirements… international studies, natural sciences, US history, etc etc.
Tonight I met a few guys… we bought some beer and hung out.. shot the shit and talked about our expectations for the year. Its odd being 22 and hanging around 19 year olds. All the transfers are around 19 or 20 so its interesting… I feel older and wiser… not necessarily better. Just like, I’ve been around the block enough to foresee all their anxieties with making new friends and trying to find the cool kids and finding women and trying their best not to get fucked over and be cool in the process. I, honestly, do not give a shit about any of this. I’m here to work hard and study, and find as many like minded enjoyable people as I can along the way. This leaves me in a precarious place when looking for friends. I’m not worried though… Classes will begin and four weeks into it, this place will feel as familiar as home.
William Dare 
so do you notice a general difference…in “people” compared to your other college?
Yes. But considering its day four we’ll see as the semester goes on. Everyone here is pretty darn ambitious and sharp. The expectations they hold themselves to seems to be pretty high on a whole. The same can’t be said for everyone at my other school.