Alex Rigl is a breath of fresh air to everyone she meets. When I met her freshman year, I was so impressed by her maturity, work ethic, and positive attitude. Since I’ve gotten to know her, she’s become one of my role models, due to her ability to balance literally every possible activity at Vanderbilt with a great social life and a perenially sunny outlook on life. She’s the kind of person that you just want to be friends with, because being friends with her means always feeling good about yourself. And who doesn’t want that? I’m really sad that Alex is graduating, but I’m so happy that she’s sticking around Nashville after graduation! Read on to find out more about this gem of a human and why you should probably want to be like her when you grow up.
1) What all are you involved in? VSG (student health and wellness committee chair), KD (past vp new member ed), LEAD member and local nashville Girl Scout daisy troop leader, HerCampus, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Gamma Beta Phi, Alpha Eta Sigma……
2) What awards/honors have you received since starting Vanderbilt? I am the two-time recipient of the Rose Garcia Anderson Kappa Delta Scholarship for service and academics. I’ve been published in the Vanderbilt Review, LAPOP AmericasBarometer, and Vanderbilt Writing Symposium Publication and Selection for 2013. I’ve been on the Dean’s List every semester and am an A&S college honors scholar. I’ve also received departmental English honors, and I have my thesis oral defense this upcoming week, eeeep! I’m a member of Phi Beta Kappa and expect to graduate suma cum laude in May.
3) How has your experience at Vanderbilt changed you as a person?Coming to vanderbilt was a really individuating decision for me at the same time that it challenged me intellectually. I’m an identical twin, and coming here for college was one of the first opportunities I had to claim something that was wholly my own. Here, I was able to explore my passions and carve my own path so that I could really own my identity and achievements. The relationships I’ve made here are genuinely the best I could have hoped for, and I could not have wished for a more supportive and inspiring place to spend the past four years.
4) What club/activity has impacted you the most? I think that my involvement in KD has had the greatest impact on my time here at Vanderbilt. Through KD, I met my closest friends, served as a leader, and was able to give back philanthropically to organizations in the Confidence Coalition that are really meaningful to me.
5) What is your fondest memory at Vanderbilt? My fondest memory would have to be my sophomore year semi-formal for KD. All of my closest friends attended (none had been taken away by abroad travels yet!) and it was at the beautiful Hard Rock downtown. It was a great night of friends and fun, and it also presented me with the wonderful opportunity to ask out this hottie from my English class who since then has only brightened my college experience.
6) What advice would you give current underclassmen about their future here?I would tell them to divert their focus as much as possible from grades and to stop pressuring themselves. Vanderbilt has such a perfectionist culture and I know that I had a lot of trouble adjusting healthfully to that culture when I started out here. I also would encourage them to capitalize on their professors: they are resources, and building valuable relationships with them from the get-go is definitely an asset going forward.
7) What are your plans for after college?I actually already have started working part-time with the company I will join as a full-time employee post-graduation! I’m working as an assistant development manager with the Advisory Board Company’s Nashville branch. I’m sticking around and doing what I love!
8) Where do you see yourself in 10 years?I hope to have an established career and a family within the next ten years. I’ve really enjoyed living in Nashville and could see myself living here long-term, though I’m very much open to moving somewhere new as long as the people are friendly, the weather is kind (us local Floridians can only handle so much cold….though snow man building is definitely a perk!), and there’s a nearby Trader Joe’s (couldn’t live without that place….especially their muffins!)
9) Speed round:Favorite ice cream flavor: cookies and cream!Favorite Nashville restaurant: tie between Calypso and Fresh 2 Order (literally told the staff I was moving into e23 next year because I fell in love with their food….and signed a lease that weekend)Favorite band: John & Jacob (gotta support the aspiring artist friends! And their stuff is awesome!)Celebrity crush: Ryan Gosling