Senior Thesis

I know my blog has been retired to the "Retired Bloggers" portion of the site, but I'd like to have one last word.

The Commencement festivities were pretty stellar. Everything was glitzy, glamorous, and well-organized. In fact, each event felt like a surreal dream.

The best part was that I continually ran across every person from my class that meant the most to me. All those dorm guys from freshman year? We're all still great friends and somehow we all found ourselves in a circle chatting it up at The Party. The Party, by the way, is this spectacular first event where all of the graduating seniors and their parents meet for a concert and drinks at Peabody. It was wonderful to be with family and my best friends.

And as one last anecdote from someone who is truly a product of Vanderbilt, I had an amazing thing happen to me...

I was at Branscomb to grab my graduation robe and to take my senior portrait. I happen to walk by the Admissions table, where I signed up to be an alumni interviewer among other things. As I was chatting it up with the two folks from Admissions at the table, one of them asked me: "Are you Justin Roberts?"

How did she know my name?

"Yes," I replied.

"I was the counselor that read your application."

I was stunned.

Yes, it was Tiffany Huggins. I can't tell you how many e-mails I sent her, hoping that I sounded intelligent. I remember trying to ask her questions that I couldn't find the answers to on the website, somehow hoping she remembered me and my interest in the school.

Well, she did.

That goes to show you exactly who the people are who are reading your applications. They're an amazing bunch, and trust me on that - I know plenty of them.

And yes, if you get in, odds are that they will remember you. They gave you and your application all that personal attention, right?

Godspeed and farewell future applicants. You'll be happy wherever you go. Vanderbilt, though, is something a step above gold.

It doesn't take a class, it takes a culture

It has been a good while since I've posted. I've learned that doing short blogs more often is the key to success.

So let me tell you: this have been my favorite semester so far at Vanderbilt. I think its because I'm trying to experience every last thing I can while I'm here.

One of those things was working for a political campaign. I just got done interning at Barack Obama's TN Headquarters. It was an experience only advertised to Vanderbilt students. I have never experienced so much of Nashville, politics, grassroots activism, belief in a cause, excitement, Tennessee, everything. Awesome.

Now, the reason I posted was that I wanted to tell you the most important things I have learned at Vanderbilt. They are values instilled in me because of my life here. Some of them I got from class, most of them from just being here:

1) Maintain your principles in every situation, every fight. There will always be adversity in everything you do, whether finding a group of friends or running for office; however, the people that stay grounded in these kinds of situations go the farthest in life, even if they suffer short-term setbacks because of it.

2) Somewhat related: Success is a delicate blend of idealism and practicality. For instance, say you advocate gender equality issues and you're in need of help to develop a program on campus. What if the person you need to work with to develop this program is derogatory toward women, a womanizer, and everything you're working against? While this could be presented as a moral problem it's not. You either don't work with that person, effectively cutting off your program or you embrace them to achieve your end-goal. The latter is a good balance between keeping your principles and practicality.

3) Everything has an effect. And you often won't know what that effect is and how important it will become. For a lot of people, health is a big example of this. Many of the things we do now build up for later in life when it's too late to take back a long-trend of habits. Whether your poison is candy, soft drinks, or alcohol, it all builds up over time against you.

4) Never, ever, ever make a decision out of pride. Pride is extremely deadly. Pride is blinding. While it has a small effect now, it is a habit that destroys people later in life. Look at any public figure that has been outted in a scandal, ruined a business, or hurt their family. Half of the time, pride was the hidden motivation. Plus, if you're not making a decision out of pride, then you're likely considering how it affects other people - never a bad thing.

That's it for now. Some of these are poorly articulated, but I tried. Overall, I'm just trying to stress how important it is that we evaluate everything that we do, that we think about our choices. Morals, ethics, principles - they are important, despite what you hear. There are some very gray situations out there, situations that get even grayer the older you get. It takes some grounding to wade through them.

By the way, I'm up late and I love it. I'm living in a suite with a guy that lived directly across from me in Hemingway Hall freshman year. We instantly hit it off and have lived with each other for 3 of the last 4 years. We've stayed up late so many nights. Half of that time was spent avoiding work by taking trips to the varsity market, playing video games, or whatever else you can think of. Good, solid times.

So much for short posts.

Legend, Pt. II

It's exactly how the semester needed to end.

Today was the final day of Middle Eastern Politics, and for whatever reason, I feel extremely mixed about it being over. It had a brain-chewing midterm, extremely dense reading to catch us up on the history of each individual country in the Middle East, and a 10-page paper that, when finished, became my 17-page manual for reconstructing Iraq's judiciary.

And it was awesome.

And the finish? Storybook.

We were closing our final lecture debating the techniques the U.S. has used to spread our influence and democracy in the Middle East. In the closing few comments, a student suggested that our professor, if offered, should never take a position in Iraq to aid with reconstruction. They finished their comment with a, "Don't do it!" The class laughed in one of those rare, special moments where we show our deep affection for the professor.

"Actually, " she said, "I think I'll be doing just that next year." And then silence. It wasn't a bad silence. It was a little bit shock (as some of us expected full well that we'd be taking another course of hers), and a little bit reverence.

Turns out, Professor Carroll was invited by the military to join them for a year in Iraq to help facilitate understanding between the American troops and the Iraqi citizens. We've established a program like this in Afghanistan, apparently, and it had massive success in lowering the death tolls of the troops and the citizens.

"Given the anxiety toward Arabs and Islam, it's stressful for an brigade being sent out in the middle of Iraq," she noted. That anxiety causes a lot of miscommunication, a lot of unnecessary death.

I walked out of class absolutely inspired today. In something so politicized, something you're almost sick about, hearing someone say, 'I think this can change; I think I can help,' thrilled me in the pit of my stomach.

As I walked out of class, I smiled. Our class was awesome. And it was because of Professor Carroll.

And I got that paper back today. The 99 didn't matter at all. My eyes moved past that pretty quickly to read "lovely Justin, very nice." Somehow, the words mean more than they ever have. They mean a lot.

Godspeed.

My time under a legend

I studied under a legend at Vanderbilt, and I'll never forget it.

I had just switched into my Public Policy Studies major and my track was focusing on Middle East Policy.  I spent that first morning of classes frantically trying to find the room my class was in.  Again and again, I checked every room number in Buttrick Hall, but I couldn't find the one I needed.

I finally found it hidden in the corridor with the professors' offices - it was completely empty.  Thankfully the secretary for the Jewish Studies department was next door.  She kindly guided me to Professor Somehk's office door down the hall.

It turns out I was one of two students who enrolled in the course.  I reckoned that the confusing course title ("SpTp: LitJews MuslimLands") accounted for the low enrollment.

I walked into Professor Somehk's office and got one of the most exciting opportunities I've ever had as a student.  It turns out that he was a visiting professor from a Tel Aviv University.  He would be here one semester to help restructure the Jewish Studies department.  He would meet with me, alone, once a week for class.  Since the other enrollee was a graduate student, we would meet separately, he suggested.

So, the course commenced.  Every week, Professor Somehk assign me a book.  I would spend hours in the bottom of the Central Library finding and reading it.  I would walk back over to his quaint office and discuss the text.  At the end of our discussion (which had no time limit - we finished when we finished), he would tell me about another book and I would go in search of it, as well.

The best thing about this class is that I went into it wanting to know everything about the Jewish-Arab relationship.  Their origins were so similar - so why all of the violence and fighting?  Go figure that Professor Somehk grew up in a Jewish community in Iraq.  In 1941 his neighborhood was attacked by a pro-Nazi mob.  His family ended up fleeing, only to end up in Israel years later.  That one attack began the decline of the Jewish community in Iraq and coincided with a similar Jewish exodus from the rest of the Middle East.

While opening the Jews Among Arabs conference, Somehk said, "I feel that I am the last Arabic Jew..."

I'm proud to have served under Professor Somehk.  I know that when I reflect on my time here, my study under him will rank among my top fond memories.

Latching onto an idea

It's late. I'm working on the first portion of what looks like a 30-page research paper for my "Conducting Political Research" class.

My research discusses how democratic states are actually far more prone to terrorism. For instance, over the last two decades, all but two suicide attacks have happened inside democracies. And what about those two that occurred in non-democracies? Well, they were directed toward the U.S. military, so they really don't count.

This paper is cool. The class itself teaches us how to write articles, like the ones we revere and read for before every meeting. It feels powerful, being able to write articles with massive amounts of citations (academic weaponry) - all the while feeling that your paper makes a startling, strong point that you think should be posted on every news website in the country.

So why am I on here talking to you about this? Because it's just so very Vandy.

You see, I grew up discussing politics with my dad. We'd sit in the hot tub and I'd ask 1,000 questions, always amazed at the things he knew. He worked all the time, so how did he find this stuff out?

Fast forward to junior year. I'm registering for classes in my room. Then, by chance, I walk out into the common room and begin talking to a guy in my suite about how I wish I could find a major that encompassed classes on Islam, Middle Eastern Politics, etc. He mentions he's a Public Policy Major.

"What's that?"

"It's interdisciplinary."

"Right, so what's that?"

"Well, it means that my major combines classes from several different colleges in the university. For instance, my Public Policy Major requires classes from Peabody and A&S. Wanna know the best part about it?"

"Tell me!"

"You pick your own track. You could pick something like 'Middle Eastern Politics,' then you'd choose whatever 5 classes you think would fulfill that track. Islam, Jewish Studies - whatever you like."

So, I immediately set out finding the classes that would comprise my "Public Policy Studies" major. "Intro to Islam," "Diplomacy in the Middle East," Jewish Studies courses, etc.

That leads me to here. I've never been so hungry to devour information. I love my classes. I love my major. My grades have shot up tremendously. Why? Because I deeply love what I'm doing here. I'm not just learning, I'm contributing. Maybe I'll post my work when I'm finished in a few weeks.

Coming home this year

My last Homecoming was by far the best. Our gym became the stage for two of the greatest performing groups of our time.

Guster came:

Kanye rocked:

If you look hard enough, you can see our very own Blair School of Music students playing right alongside Kanye. They were so cool and composed in front of the packed Memorial Gymnasium crowd.

The "home" in Homecoming truly applies here. You can guarantee I'll be back here for many years to come.

Much love,
JCR

P.S. I love that the Kaplan test prep center is across the street. I walked the 20 seconds there countless times for LSAT preparation this summer. And boy, was it worth it.

Still a whole year ahead of me

"What would I blog about?"

Politics? Sure, but there's enough of that already. Random thoughts? That's not very compelling.

You know, I really didn't know what I would blog about until the beginning of this year, my last year, at Vanderbilt. Law school applications and the LSAT have leapfrogged past any desire to be a songwriter in great ol' Nashville, TN. And now, I need a different venue to tell people about everything running through my head.

And what's running through my head?

Vanderbilt. I find myself making random excursions to the graduate schools just to see what they're about. I've started realizing I'm going to miss things I had once ignored or have taken for granted. There's far too much here to absorb in only 4 years. I carry guilt for not recognizing that sooner.

That leads me here. I'd like to share my story. There's a lot you should know about this place. And secretly, I also don't want to be forgotten.

So stay tuned. My story starts here.

Until then,
JCR