Birthdays at Oberlin

On average, you’ll spend about 8 months of the year at Oberlin. Plus more if you stay for winter term, summer, or a break. Therefore, there’s a pretty good chance that you or your friends will be celebrating a birthday at Oberlin. There are so many great ways to celebrate a birthday at Oberlin, and I just wanted to share a brief list of the ideas I’ve compiled over my three years at Oberlin. Enjoy! 

1. Decorate! This doesn’t have to be fancy. Oberlin offers a Shopping Shuttle that runs to Walmart and CVS every Saturday. These are two fantastic places for some cheap and really cute banners, balloons, or if you really want to piss off your friend, confetti filled pinatas. I’ve seen a lot of people put banners over their friends' dorm doors so that when they wake up on their birthday they are greeted by a fun surprise! For a cheaper alternative, another fun idea is to print out your own B=birthday banner, silly photos of your friend, or birthday posters (Put your Canva account to good use!). 
2. Birthday Dinner! If you want to stay on campus then I would highly recommend heading over to Umami and picking up some sushi rolls. While you’re there, get a ton of snacks and drinks from Decafe. Then find a dorm room, study space, or communal area to gather your friends and watch your favorite movie while noshing. If you’re going into town there is a clear winner for a birthday dinner; Feve! It has a great ambiance and a very expansive menu so every person will be sure to find something they like. I also love taking my friends here for their 21st birthday because they have unique cocktails and local beer!
3. Birthday Treat! There’s no better place to get a sweet birthday treat than Blue Rooster Bakery in town. They are a family owned business and have an incredibly wide array of baked goods ranging from cheesecake, to cookies, to cake. If you want a specific flavor of cake make sure you email the owner at least one week in advance of when you need it! My favorite cake flavor is their pineapple brown sugar with cream cheese frosting, but you really can’t go wrong with anything!
4. Birthday Activities! There are so many things to do on campus to make a day extra special. Make sure you check the event calendar, there’s usually a performance, special event, or even program board trip planned on any given day. One of my other favorite things to do is go to the Apollo theater and see a movie with my friends. It’s fun to go get some popcorn and an icee and see whatever is showing. The Apollo shows both old favorites and new releases, and I’ve made it a personal rule to go outside of my comfort zone and see a movie I know nothing about at least every month. What better opportunity to try something new and exciting than on a birthday! 
5. Seasonal Birthday Surprises! Something that is great about Oberlin is that we experience the beautiful changing of the seasons. With that comes some fun seasonal activities that are very close to Oberlin. Usually the program board or other student organizations will plan events or trips to these locations. Here are a few of my favorite places I’ve been on these trips: 
   1. Summer: This isn’t a planned event, but one of the stops on the Oberlin shuttle is University Circle. This is where The Cleveland Museum of Art is, which is completely free and internationally recognized as one of the best art museums. It’s gorgeous and a fun place to explore with friends and take some cute birthday pictures!
   2. Fall: Some of my favorite Oberlin sponsored trips have been going to Cedar Point during Halloween, trips to apple orchards, and going to a corn maze/pumpkin patch. Usually you do have to pay for these trips, but it is a very reduced fee and well worth it in my opinion! 
   3. Winter: Bobsledding and ice skating have been two of my favorite winter trips!
   4. Spring: Going to food halls in Cleveland, seeing the Cleveland orchestra, and going into playhouse square have been so fun. Of course this isn’t Spring specific, it’s just when I’ve gone to these places in the past. Also the weather is beautiful and makes it all the more enjoyable to explore Cleveland!

I hope these ideas give you some inspiration for how to celebrate a birthday at, or near, Oberlin. Happy celebrating!