After three years of dedicated learning, thoughtful writing, scientific analysis, in-depth discussions and more, I have reached the final year of my Oberlin journey. This semester, the reality has weighed on me more than ever, how I have just a precious few years, only months remaining now, of time to take in all this place has to offer.
While I wish I could spend forever taking each class and ExCo and attending every club and event, I have to begin considering what I’ll do when this whirr of a year is over in this time too! I’ve had certain dreams that have been with me since the start of college, after all, and others I’ve developed since. Some may take me all over the world while others could send me back to my hometown. If there’s one thing that’s grown in me since going to Oberlin, however, it’s the desire to make meaningful art. Whether writing, speech, visual art, or music, this place has shown me a diversity of artistry like I’d never been exposed to as a kid! I wish to capture the beauty of emotion the college has highlighted for me in gifts of art to the wider world. And yet, I’m also aware there’s a lot more experience I could have outside Ohio to inform my work as well. Then there’s the fact that any beauty of life and exploration will still take place in our world which requires productivity--merits of some kind that can earn me economic stability. These conflicting considerations of the future have outlined diverse paths I could consider as a graduate, and aligned with those my peers have talked about too.
With goals of both economic stability and a platform for positive influencing, I have a handful of friends who are applying to law schools and other graduate programs. One friend of mine, looking most of all for immediate stability, intends to seek out the best job he can find (and he has a particular connection in mind to work with). He’ll focus on moving up the ranks and completing a high-paying career as soon as he’s done here, before securely retiring at an early age. Others I know want to make art once they graduate, no matter what, planning to focus on their writing (in the case of most people I know as a creative writing major) while getting by however else they can until their artistry becomes their support. While my own path isn’t as set as these friends of mine, I’ve recently decided to apply for one opportunity that would set my experience in motion and give me more rich, artistic material in the year just after graduation.
Two of the best experiences I’ve had at Oberlin have been my trips to Guadalajara, Mexico, and Bordeaux, France. I didn’t end up studying away for a full semester program, but both these Winter Term experiences developed my love of international travel and multicultural relations. I’ve now found I can continue to pursue this enrichment while giving back through my education by teaching English abroad. A year spent educating in my native language in a Spanish-speaking country in particular would be a way to do this and solidify my budding Spanish fluency. Likewise, I sometimes consider what could have happened if I’d taken a gap year before college, and the benefits of such a, now lost, exploration opportunity would be similar to taking a year to live in a Spanish-speaking country before whatever comes next for me.
While teaching abroad in this way hasn’t become my only post-graduation next step, I’ve realized it’s almost certainly the option I’ll pick if I can ensure the experience is well-funded and supported. An opportunity to do just that is what I’ve spent the first part of this semester most focused on. I’ve been applying to teach English via the Fulbright US student program, and exactly how this process has gone so far for me will be detailed in an upcoming post.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll look forward to sharing more of the thoughts and highlights from my final Oberlin hurrah as this year goes on!
