What’s Your Story?

Rocky Alvey (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Around the time Rocky Alvey turned 52, he decided he was going to write one song per week for a year. So he did. Mostly in his truck. Commuting usually isn’t the most rewarding part of anyone’s day, but Alvey’s journey between home and… Read More

Lindsey Huddleston (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Sometimes a gust of wind topples a vase and shatters it. Sometimes the wedding officiant is late. Sometimes attendants are uncooperative, family members are estranged, and there are crayon-covered floors or gooey chafing dishes to be scrubbed. Lindsey Huddleston, co-owner of dandyLion alternative… Read More

Dave Perkins (John Russell/Vanderbilt) “For me, the creative life is a life of the spirit,” said Dave Perkins, musician, Vanderbilt Divinity School graduate and associate director of the school’s Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture program. “An animating force is given to you, and… Read More

Glen and Tracy Parsons (front) and their children (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt) At 10:30 p.m., the phone rang and woke Tracy Parsons from a sound sleep. She thought the call must be from her husband, Glen, a truck driver who was on the road that night. But caller ID read “Department… Read More

Jen-Jen Lin (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Jen-Jen Lin keeps six lions in her basement and a dragon in the closet. The awesome lion costumes live at her home until brought to life by dancers who perform the traditional Chinese Lion Dance under her direction. The spectacular 60-foot dragon, used… Read More

Midori Lockett (John Russell/Vanderbilt) The arts have always been a big part of who Midori Lockett is and how she lives. “I saw my first play, Jack and the Beanstalk, at Nashville Children’s Theatre when I was 3,” she said. “I had my first art class when I was… Read More

Camp Howard (John Russell/Vanderbilt) When Camp Howard was 8 or 9, he went to the circus and saw performers on unicycles. “I could do that!” he thought. His parents found a unicycle at a bike shop in nearby Roanoke, Va., and soon he was leaping from the… Read More

Lyne Bingham was photographed at J-J’s Market and Café, Nashville, Tenn. (John Russell/Vanderbilt)     Lyne Bingham’s gestures say a lot, whether she’s in the midst of a lively conversation or conducting a symphony orchestra. Such expressiveness and easy sociability in a person with Asperger’s syndrome might come as… Read More

(John Russell/Vanderbilt University) Thumbing through a handful of her daughter’s recently taken senior photos, Kim Drake was a little tearful. “I’m having a mother moment,” she explained before tucking them away to offer some friendly guidance to a patient at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center’s Patient and Family Resource… Read More

If you have an interesting story to share, you could be featured in the "Vanderbilt View." Read More

The Vanderbilt Child and Family Center's Zana Bojic (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt) Seventeen years ago, Snjezana Bojic left her home in war-torn Bosnia as a refugee looking to escape the brutality and deprivation of that devastating conflict. She was 22 years old, and it was the second year of a war characterized… Read More