Best Winter Term Ever.

Okay first of all, I just need to express my love for Winter Term as a whole. I used to feel like it was kind of a weird situation to just not have classes for a month, but now that I’ve been around the block a few times, I can wholeheartedly say that January at Oberlin is a magical time like no other. No matter who you are, I think we can agree that the winter months are hard sometimes. In the dead of Ohio winter, WT is the perfect time to relax, recharge, hibernate, set intentions, try new things, and generally just hang out. For a campus that sometimes seems to never rest, we sure know how to slow down in the middle of the school year. 

And this year was no exception! My Winter Term this year—the last of three WTs required to graduate—was the first time that I have participated in a group project, and it did not disappoint. Along with 15 other students and 3 recent alums, I spent five hours a day rehearsing in Warner Main dance studio. Together, we revived I Will Always Loft You, an experimental dance show that was created by two seniors last February as an Honors Dance capstone. 

After three weeks of rehearsals, we then took the show to New York City, where we braved several feet of snow to perform two sold out shows at Dixon Place Theater. I felt so grateful to be working with such an incredible cast of dancers, and it was really special to bring the show to NYC, where the original “loft” in I Will Always Loft You is located. For more pictures of our adventure, you can check out the Oberlin Dance instagram page!

Not only was I working on an amazing project, but I was also dining in a Winter Term co-op! I am personally of the opinion that there’s no point in being on campus in January if you’re not going to dine in a co-op. It’s the best. This year, I was dining in a “special interest” co-op where we tried to coordinate and feed 100 people three meals a day without the use of modern technology. This meant that all of our cooking and cleaning was scheduled using big bulletin boards instead of spreadsheets, and we had a CD player in the kitchen instead of an aux cord. 

We also, perhaps most importantly, had a No Devices rule in the main common spaces of the co-op. We made a huge event calendar on the wall of the dining space, and people ended up organizing a ton of co-op events, like daily read-alouds in the lounge and epic snow fort building. It forced all of us to be more intentional about our device usage, and although we’re going back to our email lists and Google calendars on Monday, I think a lot of people have taken valuable lessons away from this month. We also had a “Technophilia” party with a DJ spinning real records!

Personally, I have also been adventuring in the world of “making” which is where you spend your co-op hours each week making baked goods or bread or granola instead of cooking normal meals. My job specifically is to make “tasty things” for people in the co-op who are vegan or gluten-free. I would say my biggest accomplishment on that front has been vegan/GF orange cranberry scones, which apparently were quite yummy. A lot of Harkies have tried new things in the co-op this month, from head-cooking to making hummus! I don’t have any pictures of the co-op though because I have not been using my phone... perhaps I need to invest in a digital camera. 

All in all, it has been a beautiful month overflowing with board games, ice skating, homemade banana fritters, lots of snow, poetry readings, feather boas, folk music, kitchen dance parties, glitter tattoos, journaling, pranks, going to the Oberlin Public Library, glitter, sauna-ing, jigsaw puzzles, paper mache, performance art, New York bagels, hanging out, dancing, listening to people play guitar in the lounge, absurdist theater, DIY haircuts, adventures, video games, physical media, yummy food, and trying new things! I can’t wait to do it again next Winter Term.