Good morning, and welcome to a Day in the Life as a senior at Oberlin College! Some background about me: I am a Computer Science student, an Officer in Oberlin Pole Dance, and I work many jobs at Oberlin, but at this point, most are CS Teaching Assistant roles. Let’s get into my Saturday this week, only one example of an awesome day here. (:
9:00 AM –– Wake Up
I woke up pretty late this morning and hung out with my roommates for thirty minutes in my off-campus house. I took my time getting ready before I was on my way and into the cold!
10:00 AM –– Coffee with Riley
Earlier this week, my friend Hanna and I were making a bet. I claimed that she stole the pen I let her borrow, and she argued that it wasn’t in her bag, and I was lying. Riley threw in a helpful incentive––whoever was right would win a coffee date with Riley.
Of course, I was right. Hanna did steal my pen. I went to the Local with Riley, and then we walked to the bike path and landed back at Slow Train, another cafe at Oberlin. There, we found all of our friends fretting over registration. How does one plan for their last semester at Oberlin without anguish?
11:00 AM –– Dance Rehearsal
My friend Chloe choreographs a hip hop dance once a semester, and this year, I asked if I could join. We practice twice every weekend, and I cleverly (not) forgot that our dance rehearsal was moved to a different building, so I was fifteen minutes late. We drilled the routine, and Chloe corrected us on our movements. It was a bit stressful but really fun. I felt like I was trying to impress my mom.
12:20 PM –– Lunch
I brought my friends to Tank Co-Op lunch with me. I honestly have no recollection of what we had for lunch, but I can only imagine it was fantastic.
1:00 PM –– Writing
My friends and I are competing in National Novel Writing Month, which is when you write 50,000 words in November. I am pathetically behind, and Elyssa is courageously on-track, which keeps me motivated and my word count from lagging too low. We returned to Slow Train and wrote on the couches, and then I had to leave Elyssa and my friends behind.
2:00 PM –– Lab Helping
I am a Lab Helper for the CS department at Oberlin. I sit in the computer lab and students add themselves to an online queue when they have a question. Today was a lighter day, but I helped out around four to five students. I mostly worked on homework.
4:00 PM –– Online Assessment
In order to secure a full time role as a Software Developer, you will often need to complete an online assessment. This is an asynchronous assessment of your coding and problem-solving skills. They often last between one to two hours. I completed an online assessment for Two Sigma at Mudd and, exhausted, trudged back home to eat.
6:00 PM –– Complaining Time
At home, I complained how I needed to lead the crew shift (cleaning, dish-washing, etc.) after dinner. Then, I hurried off to Tank Co-Op where Roman had made chicken parmesan, eggplant parm, and chocolate cake. What made for a delicious dinner made for a frightening clean-up, but I finished around 8:00 PM.
8:00 PM –– Indian Dinner
I came home for second dinner. My friends ordered takeout from an Indian restaurant near Cleveland. We cracked containers all over the table, ate Indian food, and then excitedly got dressed for our last event of the evening… WOBC’s Cover Band Showcase!
9:30 PM –– Cover Band Showcase
Elyssa and I arrived at the ‘Sco thirty minutes before the show, waited in a long line, and then were shoved into the door. We hurried to the front. My friend Ryan was playing in the first band, a cover band of Blondie called Baldie. The front of the club-like ‘Sco, we soon discovered, was not for us. We were pushed, shoved, and sweated against, but it was all worth it to see Ryan and his band perform and kill it.
11:30 PM –– Sleepover
At the end of the evening, I showered, drank water, and then walked to Julia’s village house. It was the perfect way to end the night––a sleepover with my best friend.
I hope this gives you some insight on a typical Saturday as an Oberlin student. You may have noticed that I’m never not busy, and I love to be with my friends.
But between us… hopefully Sunday is a lot more lazy.
