Explore new horizons, by way of the academic curriculum, and other opportunities for growth.

Connect your ideas, values, and interests to your coursework and your co-curricular activities.

Deepen your connection to your fields of study and to the communities in which you live.

Develop independence in your life-long pursuit of intellectual, artistic and personal growth.

Year One: You are new to Oberlin and Oberlin's new to you, so the first year is about exploration—intellectual, social, and personal. You can let Oberlin happen to you, or you can begin to define your intentions here. Seize the reins of your liberal arts education.

Explore new intellectual horizons

Take courses that were not offered at your high school. Explore how your interests fit with the diversity of Oberlin courses. The institutional requirements—for example, 9-9-9, cultural diversity, and quantitative proficiency —can steer you in a variety of directions, but it's up to you to select which courses will work for you.

Acquire proficiency in a variety of academic practices. Understand the values that sustain a community of learning, and enroll in courses that will allow you to sharpen a variety of skills, including critical reading, writing, listening, analysis, and information literacy.

Write about what the opportunity to study at a small liberal arts college means to you. What are the values of our community of learning? How does your conduct in and outside the classroom sustain or weaken this community?

Begin a new foreign language or advance your fluency in a language you've already studied. The earlier you attend to this task the better.

Use Winter Term to explore the college, community, or the world. A variety of options are available, from an on-campus group project, to a service-learning project, to language study in a foreign country. Start thinking about your project during fall break. Review your ideas with a Student Academic Ambassador, and then schedule an appointment with your advisor to explore the project in more detail.

Explore new experiences

Join a student organization, a varsity sport, a club sport, or an intramural activity in athletics and physical education.

Select a community service project through the Bonner Center for Service and Learning. The town of Oberlin isn't just where you go to school, it's where you live. Make it a better place for everyone.

Foster your understanding of cultures by attending events sponsored by the Multicultural Resource Center, the Oberlin College Dialogue Center and program houses.

Get involved in the arts on campus by attending a Conservatory concert or viewing an exhibit at the Allen Memorial Art Museum.   Consider auditioning for a student theater production or one of the a cappella singing groups.

Explore the resources available at Oberlin College

Get to know your advisor and at least one professor.

Outline your educational goals and consider how you might pursue the connections between your values and your Oberlin education. Discuss these with your advisor, class dean, or another member of the faculty or staff. Explore how your interests fit with the opportunities available at the College.

Throughout the semester, find time to distance yourself from short-term deadlines to take stock of the big picture. Life as an Obie may entail a number of metamorphoses. Keep a record.

Learn about academic and student life policies, including College and community codes of conduct. Understand why the Honor Code, for example, is the lifeblood of our intellectual community.

Refine your time management and organizational skills. Shape the ways in which your studies, your extra-curricular activities, and your social life interact on a daily and weekly basis. Make a plan to stay healthy: sleep, eat, and exercise well.

Get to know an upper-class student who can help you expand your horizons. Schedule a time for coffee or lunch with your Student Academic Ambassador, or with an ambassador whose interests coincide closely with your own.

If you are already confident about your major, find out who the student major representatives are for that department. Talk to them about their winter term projects, summer internships, and course selection.