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 SEED house
Lucas Brown ’09
“Oberlin’s support network made our successes possible. SEED demanded skills like composting, caulking, persuading, public speaking, and econometric analysis, and for each skill we required, we found...
On joining the Great Lakes Research family
Evan Tincknell ’14
“It’s incredible to be engaging with people from whom I am constantly learning, and to be taking academic courses that seem so relevant to my work and the world in general.”
On changing the world, one book at a time
Anita Fahrni ’65
“After returning, I started to collect, sort and send books. Within 10 years, over 220,000 books would find their way from my garage to libraries throughout Mongolia!”
On finding a home on SciFi Hall
Sammy Moores ’17
“Like many incoming first-years, the thought of having a roommate and finding a solid group of friends was extremely daunting.”
On conducting a youth orchestra
Maurice Cohn ’17
“Music is a living art, not to be kept in the glass cases of history museums...I can help foster that kind of energy and excitement about performing in another generation of musicians.”
On being a life-long learner
Hidong Kim ’87
“The same crackling energy I felt at Oberlin when immersing myself in new learning I now feel in medical school... Once again, the academic rigor I acquired at Oberlin lights my path.”
On combining interests in creative writing and environmental studies
Becca Orleans ’16
“In providing a text that shares experiences of running and strength in running, I hope that this collection helps women feel more empowered to openly move throughout the environment.”
On being a part of the Oberlin swimming and diving team
Simone Christen ’15
“[It] means becoming absorbed into a large family of people who are committed to exploring their lives athletically and academically in various ways.”
On venturing outside the Oberlin bubble
Mitchell Herrmann ’17
“The trips I took to the city of Akron during the cold of Ohio’s winter months introduced me to an entirely new world—a world in which my political and social assumptions were challenged in entirely...
On defining Oberlin
Jaremy Rich ’07
“There are thousands of attributes, numbers and statistics that you could chime off that make Oberlin marginally better or worse than any given institution...what the Princeton Review or the US News...
On teaching at Oberlin
Catherine Oertel ’99
“I have initiated new synthetically-oriented research projects in my laboratory here, but I have also continued my work on organ pipe corrosion with students who have been attracted by research that...
On touring with his sextet
Terence Hsieh ’12
“Friendship is the bottom-most rung on the ladder of music: the best jam sessions, the best solos, and the best memories are shared on stage with people who can lose themselves in each other.”