Oberlin Blogs

Zoe McLaughlin ’11

Zoë came to Oberlin for reasons that are impossible to enumerate succinctly. She wanted to major in some sort of biological science, but also had interests in other areas. She is currently majoring in biochemistry and creative writing, mainly because she couldn't pick just one side of her brain.

Besides writing stories and mixing chemicals together, Zoë plays violin, dances, visits her public library, and writes about herself in the third person. She's also become a member of Oberlin's Chinese Students Association and the secretary of Asia House's Hall Council, both largely by accident.

If you tell her that it's cold in Oberlin, she will laugh at you and then deny it, as she is from yet even colder climes.

To find out more information about her in a listed, possibly less confusing manner, click here.

Entries from this blogger

An update on my dancing

March 13, 2011

Once dressed, we put on our coats and boots and headed over to Warner--where the Dance Department is housed--looking very classy indeed. My coat looks really good on top of silk with gold accents; that's all I'm saying.

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Lunar New Year!

February 27, 2011

Excitingly enough, this year we purchased a second lion, so this year we were able to do really cool things like have the lions jump over one another. Plus, if you have more lions, everything just looks cooler.

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My Final Schedule

February 11, 2011

It suddenly hit me that this is my last chance to take classes at Oberlin, ever, and there are so many classes that I haven't had the chance to take yet. This is a sobering thought, especially since I've also suddenly been hit by an overwhelming desire to understand everything .

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Teaching English

January 31, 2011

There was also a bonus piece to the puzzle that they could collect if they found Bigfoot and told him some facts about himself.

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You've Got Mail

January 22, 2011

Since it's Winter Term right now, I've slacked off a little bit on my mail checking routine because the inflow of mail is even less than normal.

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Snow, Prop 8, and Chemistry

December 9, 2010

It's a little-reported fact, but organic chemistry in general is actually composed mainly of working up your product. Doing the actual reactions takes very little time. It's all in the purification.

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Work

October 24, 2010

So I read and I wrote and I did my problem set and I got nothing else accomplished, meaning that a lot of things from my to-do list have now been pushed onto my "to-do over Fall Break" list.

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Packing List

August 10, 2010

Including, but not limited to: ramen, canned soup, graham crackers, apple sauce, bread making materials, peanut butter and honey, cereal, rice, and assorted pastas.

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Shall we dance?

July 14, 2010

The fairy godmothers are actually hillbillies, the prince is something of a dud, and the mice are a lot more concerned about where they're going to get their next meal than about anything that's going on with Cinderella.

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CSA Hot Pot

May 14, 2010

Maybe this bit of sentimentality was brought on by the fact that I was standing in a normal kitchen, not a tiny dorm kitchen or an industrial-sized co-op kitchen.

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Research

March 28, 2010

To do this, I siphon off a few milimoles of the mixture, using a lot of liquid nitrogen and a pretty intimidating vacuum system, bring it over to the GC, and shoot it through. Basically.

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Lots of Thinking

March 6, 2010

Really, though, all I want to do is read young adult novels. I can't, though, because I have more important work to do.

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Trial by Fire

January 31, 2010

I did my best deer in the headlights impression, at which point the guy I was assisting said not to worry, he'd help me with some of the talking.

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What language barrier?

January 22, 2010

Usually our conversations involved me trying to express myself with improperly conjugated verbs and him good naturedly pretending that he understood what I was saying.

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Religion

November 13, 2009

Right before I left for summer vacation, my Facebook status read, 'Zoë goes to the coolest church ever.'

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A field trip

November 4, 2009

After a brief walk in the crisp night air during which I considered making pirate jokes, we arrived at the hospital.

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Culture Festival

October 18, 2009

Various student organizations and groups had tables set up around Tappan Square, with food and activities available from their respective cultures.

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And then I got sick

September 17, 2009

It wasn't fun trying to get all my work done and sleep more and walk around with a sore throat, but I managed it pretty well, with the help of cough drops and perseverance. Until Sunday night.

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My packing list

August 15, 2009

Funny story: One time, I forgot to bring my concert pants and didn't realize until I was trying to get dressed for a concert.

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Employment?

August 10, 2009

Showing a little foresight for once, I started investigating jobs that would allow me to arrive early on campus, with somewhat minimal success.

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Ballet

July 11, 2009

Remember when I was talking about opportunities? Allow me to expound upon another opportunity that I encountered late last semester, involving dance. Just to shake things up a bit, I'm not going to write about Indian dance again.

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Winter Term: Last Year, continued

January 22, 2009

This mix of people leads me to a very important topic: food. Malaysia, and particularly Penang, where my grandparents live, is well-known on those travel cooking shows for having amazing food. Those shows aren't lying.

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Winter Term: A Retrospective

January 15, 2009

Though they all speak English, I've come to realize that what my uncle once said is very true: the conversation will start out in English, move on to a mixture of Chinese and English, and finally settle completely into Chinese.

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Lists

December 1, 2008

You can tell how stressed I am by how many lists I've made, and right now I'm making a lot.

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Food!

November 25, 2008

As I write this (but not as I type this, because I'll be doing that later), I'm drinking egg nog left over from my dinner at Lord/Saunders. That's right, I ventured to south campus to eat dinner tonight.

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A bit of my weekend...

November 19, 2008

I spent most of my time last week trying to memorize a dance for the International Festival, which was held on Saturday.

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How to solve a crime

November 13, 2008

The sign above the door to my analytical chem lab now says "Oberlin Crime Lab." For the rest of the semester, we're solving a crime that occurred at the Olympics involving arson, secret notes, drugs, and missing silver medals.

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Notes on dancing

November 9, 2008

This weekend, being parents' weekend, saw many, many events. The one I attended today was FELL, the 2008 student dance concert, which consisted of pieces choreographed and performed solely by students.

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