Oberlin Blogs

As I mentioned before, I was back early as an academic ambassador, a friendly, name-tag-emblazoned helpful upperclassman to help the overwhelmed freshmen during their first academic duties. Other than the perk of arriving back on campus early, I got to meet a number of extraordinary new students.

Normally, Orientation is a crazy time, though no one agrees why. That said, this year feels different. These freshmen are just way too cool.

A few changes around campus since my freshman year, for better and for worse.

To me, Oberlin can't be summed up in one adjective. So, here for your exploring pleasure, are the adjectives that I think best describe Oberlin.

A few words of advice mixed with my nostalgic ramblings of yore.

In this post: coffee mugs, unions (viz. Teamsters and AFSCME), near-death experiences, pictures I may or may not have incorrectly uploaded even though I've been given two sets of instructions on how to upload photos because I'm practically a Luddite, Oberlin vignettes.

Some thoughts after watching my younger sister pack for her freshman year at college.

Without ANY planning on my part to "eat exotic," here is what my wife and I did to travel around the world just in the last 9 days.

Nearly everyone at Oberlin can ride a bike. And for the first time in my life, I want to be like everyone else. How hard can biking be?

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.

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

There is no required reading for freshmen at Oberlin, but a quick flip through Lord of the Flies could be real helpful.