This year, I spent my fall break staying on campus.
Fall break begins on the Friday that classes end and lasts for a full nine days. I also spent last year staying on campus during fall break, and the campus atmosphere is definitely different during this time. Most students at Oberlin go back home for shorter breaks like fall and spring break. Without classes, concerts and other events to keep people busy, it’s a lot quieter and more deserted. Upon telling people I’d be spending fall break on campus, I was often asked how I’d spend my days with so much free time and not as much to do.
My friend Jewel, a fellow violin performance major who’d also be staying for break, had a grand plan for us: wake up at 7 a.m., eat breakfast at 8, practice from 9 to 12, eat lunch at 12, practice from 1 to 4, eat dinner at 5, and practice from 6 to 8 p.m. I was on board with this intense eight-hour practice regimen. Over the next few days, we didn’t exactly hit our ambitious eight-hour goal, but we spent it doing so much more! Along with lots of practicing, of course.
The first Saturday and first full day of break was the last day of summer. It was eighty degrees outside, and upon checking the forecast that morning, I saw that the following days were barely going to reach seventy. Since we were about to go into November, I realized that this was the last day I’d feel a temperature this high for a long while. I decided it was a perfect day to take a step back and smell the flowers—or rather, the leaves. Peak foliage in Oberlin occurs during fall break, so all the trees looked so wonderfully radiant. I took in all of nature by going to Wilder Bowl, a large open lawn in the heart of campus, where I spent about an hour lying in the grass and listening to music. During the school year, it’s sometimes difficult to relax with how busy everything can be, so it was nice to fully unwind.
I also had my inaugural fall break meal at Stevenson Dining Hall. One drawback of breaks at Oberlin is that all the dining halls close except for Stevenson (often referred to as Stevie), which is the largest dining hall on campus. I rarely eat at Stevie throughout the school year because it is a little far from the conservatory, which is where I spend most of my time throughout the day. I ate lunch there with my friend Jewel, and for dinner, our friend Tatum, who’s also a violin major, joined us.
As the week continued, I found that Stevie meals were such a perfect opportunity for socialization. I would usually get to the conservatory in the morning, and my friends and I would take breaks from practicing to eat lunch and dinner at Stevie. Since Stevie was the only dining option for the week, I ran into so many people I didn’t realize were also staying during mealtimes. I’d often walk to Stevie with one or two people and leave with a group of two or three others who spontaneously joined our table.
Along with sharing meals with friends, staying at Oberlin was also such a great opportunity for me to focus on practicing. One piece I was working on was the third movement of Symphonie Espagnole by Édouard Lalo, which I played for studio class shortly before break and had to perform again after break. I could use my extra time to zero in on the details of the piece and my other repertoire. I felt I came out of break feeling more prepared and confident about my assignments.
I practice in the conservatory’s main practice building, Robertson Hall (referred to as Robbie), and usually, throughout the school year, you can walk through the halls of Robbie and hear a cacophony of people practicing in just about every room. There are a lot more vacant rooms during breaks, and Jewel, Tatum, and I often practiced in rooms near each other. Hearing the faint sounds of my friends practicing through the walls is super motivating for me, another reason I enjoy staying at Oberlin for breaks.
While we spent most of our time in the conservatory practicing individually, fall break was also such a great opportunity to socialize musically without the pressure of impending rehearsals and concerts. My friends and I often came together to play scales, discuss technique, and perform run-throughs of our solo repertoire for each other. One night, a group of five of us spent a couple hours sightreading string quartets and quintets, which was so much fun.
Socialization over the break wasn’t just limited to musical engagements, though. Something my friends and I did often was go on bike rides! I am not at all a seasoned biker; Jewel and Tatum actually taught me how to ride in the beginning of the break… but in no time, I was cruising around campus. I borrowed a bike from a friend who went home for break, and one of our first rides was to the Walmart Supercenter, two miles from the center of campus. That evening we bought snacks, and on our way back stopped at the Oberlin Arboretum to watch a meteor shower with some of our other friends.
Biking became one of my favorite ways to get around campus—it made everything even more accessible and is such a nice way to explore Oberlin. We went on rides throughout campus, the surrounding neighborhoods, and the Oberlin Bike Path, where it was so lovely being surrounded by all the fall colors. We also made trips to the Robert Carr Pool, and the Diane Yu Fitness Center, the conveniently located gym in my dorm, South Hall.
I also spent some of my time on this break in Cleveland. As someone who usually gets protective hairstyles done, Oberlin’s proximity to the city comes in handy when I’d like to get my hair re-braided. There are so many Black hairstylists in Cleveland, and the break gave me lots of time to prepare for a hair appointment. My friends even helped me take out my braids a few nights before my appointment! Four of us sat and watched movies as we unbraided my hair together, which I was so grateful for because it totally expedited the process. I also got tickets to watch the Cleveland Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which was an absolutely beautiful experience.
As fall break came to a close, I looked back with so many fond memories of the past week. While I didn’t spend my entire days in Robbie as initially planned, I appreciated all the fun things I got to do and the people I got to share those experiences with. If you’re wondering if you should spend your first break on campus, especially as a music major, I’d say go for it! There is so much to do, even if it may not seem like it on the surface.
