Emily Wilkerson ’15

I'm Emily and I'm originally from Niskayuna, NY, a town in beautiful upstate New York with a name that's easier to pronounce than you think it is (for the curious - /nskjun/). I came to Oberlin planning to study music but ended up finding my academic home in comparative literature and adding a major in German after spending my junior year studying at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. I love everything to do with words — language learning, literary analysis, theory and criticism, essay writing, etc. — but my primary interest is in literary translation, particularly of works written by women.

My activities outside the classroom have shifted some during my time at Oberlin, but singing has remained a constant. At the moment I'm a part of Nothing But Treble, Oberlin's oldest all-female a cappella group, and Collegium Musicum, a choir that performs renaissance, medieval, and early Baroque music. If I'm not doing work for class or singing, you're likely to find me riding my bike around campus, hanging out in my apartment, or writing in Slow Train.

After spending two semesters abroad, I'm trying to savor my last year here. That means continuing to put effort into the things I already love about Oberlin, my classes, my choirs, and my friends, but that also means stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things: expanding my cooking repertoire, learning to swing dance, and starting work as a tour guide and a German tutor. All of that and trying to make myself slow down and enjoy everything this special place has to offer.