Dear Mr. Philips...

Students, Fellow Commodores, Colleagues,

Hello! My name is Chancey Philips, and I am an Admissions Counselor in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions (hereafter referred to as OUA) at Vanderbilt. I graduated last May (2006) with a degree in Human and Organizational Development (VU's most popular major!) and have been working here at the OUA ever since.

In late August, I watched the new freshman class (Class of 2011) walk through the gates of Vanderbilt to embark on an inevitably unforgettable 4-year journey. As I stood behind cheering upperclassmen students welcoming the new Commodores to campus, I was proud to see that our long hours of traveling, reading applications, and visiting with prospective families had finally come to fruition as those freshmen stepped onto campus. Though, as an alum, I was overwhelmed with the realization that campus life still continues after you graduate. With each year, my name rings less and less bells among the undergraduate population, and I gradually settle into my formal role as a Vanderbilt representative. It's an interesting dichotomy, being both a Vanderbilt alum and employee, and while this post marks my first attempt at blogging, I look forward to sharing with you the irony, entertainment, and intellectualism that I find in my job as well as my love for my alma mater.

Oh, and before we continue (and to save any potential embarrassment), I must clear up a few things... I am a female, my first name rhymes with Fancy, and my last name only has 1 L. In my past year as an Admissions Counselor, I have become quite familiar with the e-mail salutation "Dear Mr. Philips" which often begins the e-mail inquiries of prospective Vanderbilt students particularly from the areas of Central AL, Oklahoma, and Southern California (my "territories"). Thanks, in part, to the ever-growing popularity of Detroit Pistons star, Chauncey Billups, my name not only gets mispronounced (note: there is no U in my name, and it should not be pronounced as such unless you are British) but I am also often misperceived as a male. While I would likely make the same mistake had I not lived with this name since birth, I feel the responsibility to reveal my true identity to you, my blog readers. After several months and many e-mails with a prospective student last year, I decided to tell him what I've just told you. He apologized and admitted that throughout our e-mail correspondence, he had always thought of me as an old man. Not only am I the opposite of an old man, but we don't even have any old men who work in our office. An honest mistake, but now you know...

With that said, welcome to Chancey's View of V-U... this experience should be interesting for both us.