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 being a biology tutor
Abigail Lofchie ’12
“I like... seeing students become comfortable with the material so that they can enjoy it instead of just seeing the class as a source of stress.”
On building a community
Rachel Bouer ’12
“The lights of the Sukkah exceeded my expectations. A full belly and a fall scarf kept me warm as the lights around me glowed, showing off the work the co-op had done together the day before. Oberlin...
On progress toward gender equality
Leanne Wagner ’76
“Watching my daughter ... study with many more than one woman professor in the sciences, and not be constrained in her choices of what was to come after Oberlin, I realize that the Oberlin tradition...
On making friends
Emily Brennan ’15
“The benefits of the meaningful conversations I had with my new friends outside of the classroom were robust... My friends became my teachers — a true Oberlin education.”
On discovering the community of Afrikan Heritage House
Ambre Dromgoole ’15
“I had found a community that I knew would have my back, a community that I have now come to love and am unable to see myself without.”
On collecting stories in Nepal
Sage Aronson ’12
“I had this fantastical notion that I would just walk up to someone, and be like, “Hey man, you have any stories?” Then, I would sit back, regaled by their idiosyncratic tales. This was not to be the...
On singing with Collegium Musicum
Martha Cargo ’07
“Monday and Wednesday afternoons, beginning promptly at 4:30 in Fairchild Chapel, were brief windows of respite from our otherwise whirlwind college lives.”
On learning Russian during Winter Term
Gwen Krosnick ’08
“Sharing, with two of my best friends, those moments of joy and frustration, hilarity and utter confusion - it is something I could never have dreamed of anywhere but Oberlin, something I will...
On discovering intramural sports at Oberlin
Ashley Docherty ’13
“At Oberlin, I expected to just exercise my mind; playing intramural basketball gave me a chance to get moving and be a part of a team.”
On learning to be a writing tutor
Sean Nagamatsu ’07
“It was not simply a course in how one tutors. It was an exploration of writing as a catalytic form of expression and interaction. It was the complete taking apart of how I put together words and...
On the larger Oberlin Community
Miata Rogers ’14
“I was looking for a college with a town...I wanted to be able to engage in a community outside of the college itself. I found that when I visited Oberlin.”
On Oberlin’s life preparations
Jacob Myers ’12
“Oberlin’s crash course in cultural understanding gave me open eyes, open ears, and an open heart, and at the end of the year, that’s what helped me learn the most from my own experience.”