Blog Entries Related To This Topic:
posted by
Karl Orozco '13 | A tradition at Barrows where residents watch movies with twist-endings every Sunday night. Also, an update on Chelsea the Bike.
posted by
Joe Dawson '12 | Nothing about the title actually describes the content of this entry. Except 'Busy' and 'got to school.' Sorry, but titles are tough, dudes.
posted by
Marsha Lynn Bragg | At Oberlin, I believe the library is synonymous with academic rigor, intellectual stimulation, computers, socializing, networking, and to some degree relaxing.
posted by
Kriti Godey '11 | In this post, I talk about exciting things that have happened to me over the past couple of weeks.
posted by
Tess Yanisch '13 | A list of the things I've been doing and thinking about this week, including Nazgul costumes, three lectures, and accidentally screwing up the basis of democracy.
posted by
Karl Orozco '13 | Halloween, laughing at myself, adjusting to my new "ruggedness," and lots of probable cavities.
posted by
Helena Thompson '11 | We spent the next couple hours of the evening lying in the street, silently taking in this new gift - one blink at a time.
posted by
Kriti Godey '11 | Kriti and Adam were last seen in a Days Inn outside of Charlotte, NC. What will they do next? Find out in the next few paragraphs as we catch up with them on Tuesday, October 20.
posted by
Kriti Godey '11 | "Let's go on a roadtrip over fall break! We shouldn't make any plans - just get into the car and go!"
"The South! I've never really been there, and I've always wanted to."
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Adventures in domesticated living.
posted by
Harris Lapiroff '10 | Hello, Fall Recess.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | I turned back to my computer to further my electronic communication, and found everyone offline. So I refreshed the page. And it never came back.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | ...but it wouldn't have mattered because I probably wouldn't have listened anyways.
posted by
Tess Yanisch '13 | Of school colors and Substance-Free Housing, neither of which is lame in the slightest.
posted by
Marsha Lynn Bragg | Upon entering the chapel in the old stone building, I was struck by the intimacy of the space and the acoustics. Although I had been to Bosworth several times, this was my first time inside the chapel.
posted by
Karl Orozco '13 | (The G-Rated version)
posted by
Joe Dawson '12 | Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... Oh, hello there. I was just thinking about some of my favorite things here at Oberlin. Oh, I delight in hairless monkeys,
Cathy comics, putting rubbing alcohol in my eyes, and above all, some great places to hang out in Oberlin.
posted by
Joe Dawson '12 | I've had talks that involved intellectual topics sprinkled in among fart jokes, and discussions in class led by teachers about a particular topic of study, but no stereotypical smart talk with a lot of words like "neoclassical," "zeitgeist," and....
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | As I mentioned before, I was back early as an academic ambassador, a friendly, name-tag-emblazoned helpful upperclassman to help the overwhelmed freshmen during their first academic duties. Other than the perk of arriving back on campus early, I got to meet a number of extraordinary new students.
posted by
John West '10 | In this post: summer projects, the end of summer projects, things one learns in the summer, Infinite Monkey, homemade bookcases,
X-Men, produce stands in rural Ohio, pictures of my apartment.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | I've also been crashing international students' events.
posted by
Charles Grim, Admissions | Our new crop of international students arrived late last week and began international orientation Saturday evening.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | A wish list for Fall semester.
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | A few words of advice mixed with my nostalgic ramblings of yore.
posted by
John West '10 | In this post: coffee mugs, unions (viz. Teamsters and AFSCME), near-death experiences, pictures I may or may not have incorrectly uploaded even though I've been given two sets of instructions on how to upload photos because I'm practically a Luddite, Oberlin vignettes.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | Some advice for freshmen, their parents, and current students about orientation... pack your bags and tissues; it'll be a wild ride!
posted by
Joe Dawson '12 | There is no required reading for freshmen at Oberlin, but a quick flip through
Lord of the Flies could be real helpful.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | It can't rain ALL the time, you're thinking, and that's quite true. It snows or hails by way of variety.
posted by
Chris Gollmar '10 | Sometimes, when I have just a bit of extra time on my hands, I take out my camera and see what interesting sights I can capture.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | Once we'd finished eating, we parted ways, and I expected not to see her again, unless we wound up in a class together somewhere down the road.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | There are two main types of social life in Oberlin: (1) the inexpensive, and (2) the not-so-inexpensive.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | No matter how far away you go from Oberlin, you're still going to crave it.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | I have just passed the two week point of being home for the summer. And since this is an Oberlin blog, this is about what's different at my summer home and my Oberlin home.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | Luck, however, was with us, in the form of a front loader.
posted by
John West '10 | In this post: potentially job ending disagreement, politics at Oberlin, liberal ironists vs. liberal revolutionaries, debates to stay up late for, Fox News, and
please don't fire me.
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | There's a flower shop on S. Main that writes a different name on their sign every day, and if you are blessed with that particular name, you get a free flower. I had never seen my own name until this past Commencement.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | If there is one thing I learned how to do better at Oberlin that wasn't advertised at first was that I am now very good at applause.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | Really, the only solution was to stay up until around 3:00 AM, listening to hit songs from the nineties, reading picture books, and learning the proper way to put on bangles.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | Remember how I mentioned there are all these distractions during reading period and finals? Ah, yes, there is another one I failed to mention earlier, and that is PACKING.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Two more years until I graduate. (Well, three more semesters to be precise, but either way I'm over the hump.) Good thing? Bad thing? There's a saying I've heard a couple of times up in central Maine that I love: "Tough tellin', not knowin'." But I'm enjoying the ride more and more every day. Ayuh.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | "Zoë," one girl said, "You're halfway done with college." It didn't seem possible. It still doesn't. And, of course, it's true.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | There's something cool about occupying spaces that have so much history in them, so many Obies who've lived there in the past...
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Does being a double degree student make you less of a musician? Less of a scholar?
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | As my time in Arizona draws to a close, my thoughts drift away from the mountains of work I have to do to how excited I am for senior year at Oberlin. Here are some of my top fantasies.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | Picture three of us lying on our backs with our heads on each other's stomachs, listening to the birds waking up, and talking about life after college.
posted by
Daniel Tam-Claiborne '09 | Incredibly disillusioned by my middle school experience--finishing my season on the second string basketball team with a total of two rebounds and a steal--I was hopeful that college could renew my muddled notions about playing basketball for something bigger than myself.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | As I am employed as a tour guide, admissions intern, and creative writing intern, "All Roads" is pretty busy for me. Besides tours, info sessions, and panels, I saw Reefer Madness, sunbathed, and contra danced.
posted by
John West '10 | In this post: blogger pizza parties, ritualistic animal sacrifice, more
Mad Max,
The Bell Jar, happy things, literal clowns, figurative sharks, pacts with readers.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | Tonight: Music party at Harkness, with Andrew Gombas, Birthday Kids, and Dos Mil Días De Fuego. Before that, I saw Spring Back, a dance show, so it's been... a long night. My ears hurt. My thighs hurt. I am super-duper happy.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | I read that sentence again and again, then ran outside to my backyard, where my dad was doing some spring yard work and making pleasant small talk with the neighbors over the fence, and I promptly yelled to the skies, "I'm going to college!"
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | For the record, I am already scared of this story, but hearing it retold in such a dark and echoey space, preluded by an organ piece played in a dark room, well, it was amazing and nerve-wracking. It was the coolest shoot I've even been involved in.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | One of the questions I get on tours is "What's an average day like, for an Oberlin student?"
This is, of course, one of the most difficult questions ever.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | I'm pretty sure I can directly trace my penchant for list-making to the beginning of college. Something about Oberlin has not only forced me to develop stellar time management skills (which, okay, has gone hand in hand with fine-tuning my procrastination abilities) but has also inspired me to think, dream, and plan big.
posted by
John West '10 | In this post: doom, gloom, our inevitable demise, American Ragnarök, Funky Winkerbean, armed revolution, barbarians at the gates, political Pentecostalism.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | I got into Harkness co-op the summer before my freshman year and have stayed loyal to the Harkness flag ever since. This year, I think I am the oldest and most experienced veteran Harkness resident. Just call me Auntie Harkness.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | You know that one, the one where you're scrambling to get things done and say goodbye to everyone, and y'know, pack? I like that day, but I don't.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | Spring break in Mammoth Cave! Featuring: flutes, food, camping, kodama, hiking and super-cool people.
posted by
Chris Gollmar '10 | When it comes to breaks, I use them as time to relax and recharge, which means I tend to ignore any classwork I've brought along in my suitcase.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | As fun as the leprechaun cookies and green jello shots were, the best aspect of the day, for me, was the mass of adorable little kids running around. Little kids - much like pets, parents, and well-stocked refrigerators - are something you miss out on when you're away at college...
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | Oberlin is a mecca for all things music, and not just because of the Conservatory. Cool awesome bands and musicians are here all the time, at a fraction of the cost of most performances in the real world.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | Inside, podcasts of
A Prairie Home Companion ushered Keepers and visitors into the dining room where we filled our plates and other eating receptacles with hamburger noodle hotdish, green bean casserole, wild rice, powdermilk biscuits, and jello with Swedish fish before heading outside to the sunshine.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | I'm not even a huge history buff, but there's something stirring to the soul about stumbling across an old, crumbling stone and barely being able to make out the engraved letters:
Born a slave, died free.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | It must have looked pretty odd--all those mini lanterns hanging from tree limbs and about five of us with cans of spray paint looking like members of a graffiti ExCo, but you get my point.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | Working for a paper is exciting at times. Going without sleep comes with the territory.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | It was by far one of the more entertaining things one could have done on Valentine's Day, and it was for a good cause. There are only so many ways to make free chocolate taste better, and that's having it come out of your nose from laughing too hard.
posted by
Emily Robinson '12 | Every time I look at my day planner, I get a little bit freaked out. With the 22 credit hours worth of work I am doing this semester, well...my calendar can get a bit crazy.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Remember those "Ernest" movies from the late 80's...
posted by
Prof. Sebastiaan Faber | My colleagues and I looked at each other in astonishment. No, we mumbled almost apologetically, we're sorry, but that is not a problem we tend to have.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | There is, in fact, only one magical way to schedule all the performances (AND hit every single "Welcome back to a new semester! We missed you!" activity AND manage to see all your friends who you missed all of winter term... which can all coincide sometimes).
posted by
Emily Robinson '12 | Since I first sat back down at my desk last Saturday, I had this whole blog perfectly planned out.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | I've already got crazy nostalgia for the long, lazy summer days spent lounging in the hammock on our porch, the nights of impromptu jam sessions with my more musically inclined friends, the smell of freshly baked bread rising up from our kitchen.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | We were getting bedraggled, after countless handstands, cartwheels, and rope climbs. Yet as the weeks wound down, we got closer and closer as a group.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | She told me how excited she was about the reading, and went on with something to the effect of: "I feel like all you creative writing majors have this separate writing world you live in sometimes. It's obviously such a huge part of your lives, and yet most of the rest of us never get to be a part of it."
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | I've been running this entire last year on pure adrenaline. I know why, though, and it's because the life of an artist is a long and penniless road.
posted by
Prof. Steve Volk | Rarely are student and faculty Circadian rhythms more out of sync than at the end of a semester.
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | It took putting 3 ten-page papers, a five-page paper and two exams behind me to realize that I just might miss this ol' place after all.
posted by
John West '10 | This utter lack of warmth and sun, combined with the rampant insomnia and overwhelming amount of work, makes the campus seem less like sweet, pastoral, rural Ohio and more like a scene from Doctor Zhivago.
posted by
Chris Gollmar '10 | Today was my final exam for History of Argentine Music. This is how my studying unfolded on Twitter.
posted by
Zoë McLaughlin '11 | I've gained a certain amount of respect - if not understanding - for mass spectrometry and I've begun to understand how the microwave in the kitchen works, at least for making Ramen noodles.
posted by
Yitka Winn '09 | We also had an accidental four-hour stay in Bratislava, but hey, spontaneity and learning to roll with it is part of the adventure of traveling.
posted by
Joe Dawson '12 | I neglected to utilize the lock on the bathroom once, and it became uncomfortably non-private in the middle of my activities within.
posted by
Max Strasser '09 | Sometimes you have to remind yourself that your education is not just about classes, homework, papers and tests.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | During fall orientation, while moving all my belongings from storage to my room, I got a phone call inviting me to Thanksgiving. And due to the sheer wonderfulness of this family, and their foresight, I accepted. I knew that my Thanksgiving would feel like home with the Albrechts.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | The real difference between seeing the dress and the show, though, is the audience. I've been in performance audiences lovingly called the "little audience that could," the small audiences that make up for lacking size with more emotion, appreciation, and gusto than a full house.
posted by
John West '10 | There's something to be said for a small liberal-arts college in
a backwater hamlet a charming slice of small-town America that has two newspapers. And there's something more to be said a college that has two newspapers (
The Oberlin Review,
The Oberlin Grape--for which I am a copy editor), three non-fiction magazines (
Wilder Voice,
Vox,
In Solidarity), a literary journal (formerly
The Plum Creek Review, formerly
Enchiridion, now
The Plum Creek Review--again), a genre-fiction magazine (
Spiral) and doesn't have a journalism department.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | It's been over a week since the final performance of the Johnson Family Circus. I'm in an extraordinary position to continue reliving the show for days, weeks, even months after.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | I had cancelled most of my plans for the weekend to write my script for cinema, and was currently completely outlined but not written. And I needed inspiration. A room full of creative souls seemed like a good place to be for two hours of my precious Sunday time.
posted by
Joe Dawson '12 | We went back and forth for quite some time, coming up with quality lines for the ladies, and some lame ones as well.
posted by
Daniel Tam-Claiborne '09 | It is hard for me to describe the atmosphere I witnessed that night, but it was certainly nothing like I had ever experienced before. Surrounded by friends and strangers, new faces and old, it hardly mattered whether you knew the person standing next to you or not--but you were inevitably going to give them a hug.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Like most people in America (I gather), I thought Obama was going to win but also was distrustful enough of my fellow citizens that I had to wait until it was announced on the news to believe it.
posted by
Ma'ayan Plaut '10 | When I tell my kids where I was when this part of history was made, I will say this: I was in Oberlin. The best place in the world.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | I went as Bettie Page, which is hard to do.... in public. For the sake of Oberlin College, I won't do too much description. Suffice to say, I looked classy.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Photographs from an average Tuesday in the life of an average Obie.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | I listened to Jim's piece "Chorale" this morning. Damn, it was great.
posted by
Aries Indenbaum '09 | Bad idea: Working on a Friday night.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | The best part about college - any college - is that there's always something to look forward to.
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | Sustainability meets book buying.
posted by
Amber Walker '11 | A list of important tips/advice that might help make your transition into Oberlin a bit easier.
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | Thousands of miles from Oberlin, it's still all around me.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | As someone who knows what it's like to trudge through a protracted winter, let me assure you that Oberlin's climate is a piece of cake.
posted by
Alice Ollstein '10 | I received a request to elaborate on my experience going from a big, urban California environment to Oberlin, Ohio...so here goes!
posted by
Will Mason '10 | Find out more about the catch phrase sweeping campus.
posted by
Will Mason '10 | We Oberlin students are a lucky bunch. The campus provides an impossible number of lectures, exhibits, readings, and performances, and we are burdened with the enviable luxury of bouncing around from event to event, gorging ourselves on art and music and culture until exhaustion necessitates a break.
