Jackie García-Mejía

Itzel.Garcia-Mejia@oberlin.edu
Majors: History and Latin American Studies

I was born in Mexico, grew up in the DC area, and I now live in Silver Spring, Maryland. I came to Oberlin with the intention of pursuing a degree in the sciences. After taking a history class my first semester, I abandoned the biochem dream and ran for one of the spots as a student representative for the history department. I’ve been a history major and rep ever since.

I lived in Third World House my first and second years. Located on south campus, Third World House is a safe space for students of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, and transgender (LGBTQ) students, low-income students, first-generation college students, and allies. As a Program House resident, I was surrounded with students who had similar interests to my own. As a member of Hall Council, I got a say in how we would spend our budget to support programming in the house and all over campus. In Fall 2008, I studied abroad with the Border Studies Program in Tucson, Arizona, and in Nogales, Sonora. It was without a doubt a life-changing experience: it has inspired me to move down to the US-Mexico border and help with the humanitarian crisis. Also, it introduced me to a group of hard working and compassionate students from an array of colleges in the Midwest (6 of the 13 of us were from Oberlin!). I feel privileged to know and adore them. I encourage everyone to study abroad at some point in their college career and would be happy to talk to anyone about it.

Short List of Favorites

Local Cuisine: Raspberry-chocolate chip pancakes at Black River Café. Delicious.

Writer: A favorite new book of mine is Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It talks about how a name can define who you are. As a student with a hard-to-say first name, I’ve depended on a nickname. This book definitely brought up questions about my identity—a question that I’ve tackled in most of my classes thanks to the interdisciplinary nature of most majors.

Under-advertised Resource at Oberlin: Sexual Information Center (SIC). This is a friendly, student-run office on the second floor of Wilder. It’s a great place to ask questions, buy safer sex supplies at bulk prices, and seek counseling from trained students.

Favorite First-year Courses

HIST 109: Latin American History—Conquest and Colony, Professor Volk. This class inspired me to declare a history major. Prof. Volk gives great lectures and combines a lecture and section format. Three sections met on Fridays and it provided me the chance to discuss the reading for the week in a smaller setting.

FYSP 122: Music Live, Professor MacDonald. While it isn’t being offered this semester, it does highlight two great things about Oberlin: the accessibility of Conservatory classes for students in the College and the proximity of Cleveland. This was just one of several Conservatory classes open to college students. It also introduced me to Cleveland’s great music scene. I highly recommend trying to make it out there to see the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall.