This semester is perhaps the busiest I’ve been, but I’m still a homebody at heart. I relish every second I get to spend in my room, not just out of introversion, but because, in my overtly biased opinion, I have the world’s best room this year.
This is my second year living in Baldwin, the women and trans theme living dorm. Baldwin Cottage is a gorgeous old house right in the center of south campus. The interior is, for the most part, just as charming and beautiful as the outside. Imagine worn wooden staircases, a fireplace, and enormous windows. It’s between two dining halls, across the street from King (where most classes are held) and the conservatory, and a two-minute walk to downtown Oberlin. I honestly think it’s the best location on campus. There are a few downsides, mainly the lack of accessibility (old building=no elevator) and no A/C in the summer, which unfortunately just tend to come with old buildings. As far as the A/C goes, once those first few weeks in September pass, it’s not really a problem. I think all the benefits make up for it.
More than her location and charm, what really makes Baldwin Baldwin is the community. It’s one of the smaller dorms, with just two floors of rooms. This automatically makes it tight-knit, especially because a lot of residents stay for more than a year. Since it's also a theme dorm, we have community events and a building-wide group chat. I’ve really come to appreciate the ease of communication this allows, especially after living in other buildings where there was no way to get to know each other or talk to each other without knocking on random doors. The chats allow us to talk about building issues that come up and resolve them quickly, and also just to send random fun things.
Another aspect of Baldwin’s community is the history behind it. There is a series of old collaborative journals from past Baldwin residents that remain on our bookshelves. These go super far back and are incredibly interesting to read. We’ve even revived the tradition this year: there’s a journal we keep in the second-floor lounge for residents/visitors to write whatever we want in it, and at the end of the year, it will join the Baldwin archive. One of my neighbors is actually thinking of doing a feminist research project on officially documenting the archive. I think the journals are a really cool way of leaving something behind at Oberlin for future generations to build on and enjoy. It’s so touching to read accounts of Baldwin life from decades ago and feel connected to Obies I’ve never met, but who may have even lived in the very same room I now call home.
Speaking of, now is the part where I gush about my room. First, though, just know that all of the rooms in Baldwin are this great. I worked for ResLife this summer and did room checks, so I’ve seen them all and can say with confidence that they’re all gorgeous and absurdly spacious for dorm rooms. My room this year is a single so large I can’t believe it exists. It has two windows on one wall, enough space for a non-lofted bed, my desk, all of Mabel's various cat trees and things, a bookshelf, a window seat, a fridge, and a huge amount of open floor space in the middle. I have a walk-in closet with a disconcertingly short door that I fondly refer to as my Coraline door. The closet is so big that I have my dresser and all of my clothes in there, and still had room to convert half of it into a cozy reading/homework nook, complete with a floor mattress and Djungelskog. I adore my room so much (more importantly, so does Mabel. It’s kitten paradise). All this to say, if you ever get a chance to live in Baldwin, I recommend it. I think it’s a wonderful living community and a beautiful place to live.
