When my mom mentioned that Oberlin had offered to fly me out to Ohio, house me, feed me, and entertain me for a weekend, I thought it was too good to be true. Though it wasn’t via private jet, I felt like a celebrity. The MVP program invites multi-cultural students of different backgrounds--low-income, first-generation, and students of color--to fully immerse themselves in the Oberlin lifestyle. I was delighted upon my arrival to meet so many kind and excited prospies (prospective Obies), one of which was a half-Mexican half-Ashkenazi Jew like myself!
Unexpectedly, my MVP excitement began at the airport. I knew that Oberlin was a common school for kids in my social circle to apply to, but I was shocked to find a friend of mine from middle school on my flight from NYC to Cleveland. This, however, was only the beginning. I’ve come to find that Oberlin is a Brooklyn 2.0 of sorts, this time in the Midwest. Upon initial arrival to campus, however, my mind was blown. Sitting in the Oberlin hotel lobby, I saw yet another middle school acquaintance from our sixth-grade musical. The next few days became a sequence of run-ins, decreasingly surprising yet increasingly ridiculous. Kids from elementary school, model UN, theater camp, and high school seemed to pop up at every concert and class. Though I knew I wanted to leave NYC, I found that the New Yorkers who chose Oberlin were the opposite of the New Yorkers I was trying to escape from. Already, Oberlin felt like a home away from home.
There were a few things that prompted the phone call where I told my mom, “I don’t want to come home.” Staying with a real-life Obie in her dorm (my future home, Kahn Hall), sitting in on full-swing mid-semester classes, attending a few of the night-time concerts at the Sco--I didn’t want it to end. Though I didn’t know what to expect, I was met by pleasant surprises at every turn--especially my not-so-bad intro to dorm showers. I had so much fun trying everything in the dining hall, already plotting the concoctions I would create out of different Stevie station elements. Though the most creative I’ve seen so far was my roommate’s intricate banana split, I hope one day to top that.
More important than the food or showers, however, were the people. I distinctly remember trying to find the King building, and in my lost confusion, I didn’t even have to ask for help--Obies would just approach me and help me find my way. It’s this friendly culture and sense of community that really made me feel at home, even when I was just visiting. The people who I met via the MVP program are to this day, some of my closest friends at Oberlin. Experiencing a taste of Oberlin as a high school student was so exciting and overwhelming, it, without a doubt, brought us closer together. I can’t put into words the excitement I felt when I got the texts that two of my closest MVP buddies had committed to Oberlin.
Now that I’m finally in Ohio for good and Oberlin is my home, I feel so lucky to have experienced the MVP program. I would, without hesitation, recommend it to any prospective Oberlin students. Even if I hadn’t chosen Oberlin, the MVP weekend was an unforgettable experience.
