<p>It's after 12 PM in Nashville and all the freshman parent are suppose to be gone. I thought we would start a new parents discussion for the fall semester. There's a lot to look forward to and talk about.</p>
<p>Tonight is Founder's Walk, classes start on Wednesday and next week is the first football game with the Anchor Dash.</p>
<p>I'm looking forward to sharing this year with a great group of Vanderbilt parents.</p>
<p>Anchor Down!</p>
<p>Nice idea to start this thread. </p>
<p>Agree. Does anyone know how Founder’s Walk went last night after the rain? Can’t wait to see a video!</p>
<p>Move-in was amazing. Day was busy and hectic with all that was going on, but we so appreciated the move-in crew (and recycling crew) doing everything possible to help – really phenomenal. Now waiting to hear how orientation and other events go for these next couple of days before classes start. Not much down time – love how they have such an energetic, exciting, and spirited start. Really just loving this school!</p>
<p>My hubs and I have season tickets. I will try and post the Anchor Dash… I have to admit it makes me tear up a little! So cool, I did a YouTube link last year. : )</p>
<p>We came home Sunday knowing DS is in good hands at Vanderbilt. The entire weekend’s events were well organized and orchestrated. I was so amazed by the energy of faculty, staff, and students, I forgot to cry when I left my son there! :-h </p>
<p>There is a very small clip of Founder’s Walk on Instagram if you follow @ingramcommons.</p>
<p>My son thought the Anchor Dash was the coolest thing he had ever done last year. I hope your kids love it too!</p>
<p>His move in this year was a lot easier than I anticipated without the wonderful move in crew. It probably helped that he was on the first floor. I agree with @Go9ersjrh that it was much easier leaving him this year. In fact I looked forward to it in the way I look forward to seeing the school bus again in September for my other boys! Vanderbilt has now become my sons second home and we are all comfortable with that.</p>
<p>We don’t plan to go down for Parents Weekend this year so I won’t see him again until Thanksgiving. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet but I guess I could always find a cheap fare and go down on a random weekend if I need to see him. Last year as soon as I got home from move in, I couldn’t wait to get there again for Parents Weekend.</p>
<p>@4beardolls: no tears here either when we left our daughter on Sunday . . . just so happy and excited for her. Looks like Vandy got that part of this big transition just right. Or perhaps it has not really hit us just yet . . . .</p>
<p>No tears here either…I’ve been saying the same…I feel so confident in Vandy that I too am simply happy and grateful my son has such a wonderful environment to thrive in. I found the weekend a warm and welcoming experience and know my son did too. I’m looking forward to Parents’ Weekend to enjoy more of the same…</p>
<p>Anybody in the Crawford house ?</p>
<p>I apologize for horning in on your discussion since I’m far from a first semester parent. In fact, I counted and I’m actually a 23rd semester parent with D starting her second year in her masters program. Anyway, I have had The Hustler site bookmarked for years as I’ve been reading the campus newspaper since S was on the staff many moons ago. I didn’t know if all of you would know that you could keep up with the campus happenings via the paper since it’s kind of well hidden these days, IMO. To read The Hustler each week, go to <a href=“http://www.vanderbilthustler.com/”>A band of our times: Bits in Pockets feels new, raw and timely – The Vanderbilt Hustler. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page and you will be able to read the actual newspaper facsimile each week. In the last year or two they’ve cut back to publishing once a week, but they do a great job of covering the campus activities and issues. Good luck to all of your students!</p>
<p>2VU0609 - This is not for first semester parents only. It is a parent’s discussion for the 2014 Fall Semester. So since you are a Vandy parent, this discussion is for you.</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading the Hustler last year. I’ve always wondered where the name came from.</p>
<p>I wish I could say no tears … but I bawled all the way home (6 hours!) from Nashville. 
We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch (me, DH & DD15) … there was a wait so I gave them our name and the number in our party. I TOLD HER FOUR. (Cried more when my daughter clued me in to to my mistake.)</p>
<p>We had a rough ending on Sunday when we left but I’m happy to say I spoke w/ my daughter today and she sounds so HAPPY. She just auditioned for the Symphonic Choir today and made it - I spoke with her while she was walking back from Blair and she just sounded awesome. So happy. And older. </p>
<p>And she just told me she’s on a co-ed floor. Whoops. They specifically requested a same sex floor so I have no idea how that happened … but it is what it is. </p>
<p>I don’t know where it came from, Go9ersjrh. However, I do know that has always been the name of the school paper. S was on staff during his freshman and sophomore years and when I would mention his work on the newspaper, some of my friends would just howl because they initially thought I said he was working on Hustler instead of The Hustler 
</p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter, KaMaMom! Glad to hear she sounds happy. We jumped right into activities for our son when we returned, and I’m also still cleaning up the mess left behind here at home as we were finalizing packing so have not really had time to dwell on the significance of all this yet. Denial is helpful sometimes :)</p>
<p>There were tears here as well, but not as much as I had expected. D seemed so happy to be there, it really helped my sadness. I know what you mean about seeming older already. We did facetime last night and she just seemed older, more sure of herself. Of course, I still can’t bring myself to go into her empty room just yet, but I am so happy for this new phase of her life.</p>
<p>@2VU0609, thanks for the link to the Hustler.
Classes will start tomorrow. Freshmen have had so many events and activities thus far. Hopefully, they will go to bed early and not be late to their classes.</p>
<p>@4beardolls we can only hope. I’m thinking the same thing for my sophomore.</p>
<p>I’m glad that the rain came on Sunday instead of Saturday. Move-in would’ve been chaotic had there been bad weather. I didn’t shed a tear either. Thought I would on the 12 hour ride home, but like everyone else, my D seemed happy and was very excited so I was happy for her. She texted me on Monday that she loved her school (with lots of exclamation points!). I have company coming today from out of town, and spent the day yesterday cleaning D’s bedroom. She was far from tidy … Looks like a new room! </p>
<p>Oh! I have to say this … there is one thing DD doesn’t like … the heat! (Um … welcome to the south I said!) </p>
<p>Overall, we’ve had a VERY mild summer up here in northern Indiana which has made the transition to the upper 90s FAR worse for her! lol!! (It’s barely been in the upper 80s here all summer let alone 90s … it’s been really lovely!)</p>
<p>Hope all the first year Vandy kids have a great first day!</p>