Oberlin Stories Project
We have collected hundreds of personal narratives from students, alumni, faculty, and staff that explain the merits and strengths of Oberlin through the eyes of those who have experienced it firsthand.
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On opportunity
“I spent many years grappling with what type of profession I wanted to pursue in my life. I considered medicine, legal work, and many other paths. But one thing always remained the same: my passion...
Chase Palmer ’08
On learning to teach literacy
“I had answered a call for volunteer tutors in a night school created by a gentleman who was born a slave. Literate, he wanted to help folks from the South who had come north for jobs in Ohio and...
Susan Cowan Knebel ’60
On the ExCo Program
“What other place allows any undergrad student with a decent idea to create and teach their own course?”
Netta Rappaport ’12
On the things to do at Oberlin
“There are enough great organizations, activities, events and concerts here that it is impossible for one student to do everything or even half of everything. The hardest decision that many students...
Jules Brouillet ’10
On visiting Oberlin
“As I planned my schedule of classes to visit, I found myself tempted by the different departments listed and the variety of classes offered. I barely had time to fit in a conservatory class because...
Crystal Sheffield ’12
On experiential learning
“What I chose to do while at The Philadelphia Center would have been inconceivable had I not spent the last two and a half years living in this small-town Ohio community.”
Aaron Appel ’16
On writing Nicaraguan women’s history
“I became a feminist and started to focus on an overarching question that would absorb much of my time over the next two decades: why assume that only white women fought back against sexism before...
Victoria González-Rivera ’90
On studying away
“I’m very passionate about exploring the world because I believe experiencing many different cultures is integral to developing a wider understanding, as well as a deeper connection to one’s self.”
Peter Nguyen ’16
On living on SciFi Hall
“...when I step out my door, there will be a friendly face around the corner. I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had there, and have found what I’m proud to call my home at Oberlin.”
Julie Lopresto ’12
On clarity and falling down
“...In this moment I became aware of how much more comfortable with being alone I had become during my time at Oberlin.”
Eliot Hart-Nelson ’15
On growing
“I realized I had come a long way from the student who sat in that class three years earlier doubting herself. I had become the articulate college student who had intimidated me so much in my first...
Althea Lamel ’13
On an unforgettable moment
“Although Kim Katrin Milan did not teach me the politics of radical love, I cannot help but acknowledge that she illuminated what was already so present in my life and the work that I wish to do. ”
Rachel Parnell ’16