I had a long day on Thursday. I worked for three hours at Career Exploration and Development, attended class for two hours, ate dinner for thirty minutes, went to a group tutoring session for Discrete Mathematics, and then worked on my Data Structures lab for an hour. I didn’t arrive back at my dorm until 11:00 pm.
That isn’t every night, of course, but some days can take a toll on me. On these days, it feels really tempting to climb into bed, scroll on Instagram for a few hours, and then go to sleep, but I know that won’t really help me. Neither will cursing Oberlin or my studies or wishing I was doing anything else. I think it says something that even on my worst days at Oberlin, I still want to be here above anywhere else.
Here are my 51 favorite things about Oberlin.
- The squirrels.
- OBurlesque, Oberlin’s best student organization.
- Weird sculpture outside of the Science Center.
- https://obiesource.github.io/.
- Slow Train.
- OCircus. The aerialists flipping through the air at any given time. Jugglers. Clowns.
- The Computer Science department.
- Knowing everyone through someone.
- Jarties (jazz parties).
- Biking everywhere.
- Kyle Farris, my boss.
- CLEAR, mentoring center.
- Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. Pyle Co-Op.
- Student-athlete culture.
- The ‘Sco.
- Peters Hall.
- The faces on the columns outside of Bosworth Hall.
- North Quad lit up at night.
- Fog.
- Snow. Snowball fights in Wilder Bowl.
- President Ambar.
- The Goodwill and their amazing coats.
- Solidarity of being in Ohio.
- http://whythefuckshouldichooseoberlin.com/.
- Stars.
- Concerts.
- Learning marketing at my job.
- Organ Pump.
- Aladdin’s.*
- *I know this isn't an Oberlin thing, okay? But I love it.
- Barefoot Dialogue.
- Asking new friends out to coffee.
- Sexual Information Center.
- The Free Store.
- Sunsets and biking towards them.
- Dancing drunk on the lawn in front of Kahn Hall.
- OPole (Oberlin Pole Dance).
- Chabad. Shlomo and Devorah’s children.
- Purim parties and Shavuot parties and Hanukkah parties.
- Resource Conservation Team and giving free meals to Oberlin Community Resources.
- Fun, casual dates.
- My boyfriend.
- Meeting my boyfriend’s friends.
- Thi Ni Thai and Thai iced tea.
- Yeobie.
- Graphic design is my passion.
- French House.
- Did I mention OCircus? I did, didn’t I?
- Professor Preston Crowder.
- Womb chairs and funky chairs in Mudd Center.
- My friend bringing me soup from the Mandarin when I am sick.
- Never wanting to leave and always wanting to return.
At the end of the day, college can feel exhausting. I mean, a weekly reading journal that is at least a page? Two inches of rain and a commitment across campus? Having to exercise on top of having to feed myself, do all my classwork, and show up to work on time? It can feel like exhausting because it is exhausting.
But even with all of this, there is nowhere else I would rather live this crazy college experience. There is nowhere else I’d rather run from skunks, nowhere else I’d rather discover my passions, nowhere else I’d rather watch Peter McPoland perform.
Oberlin is home to me, and I hope it’s the same for you. (:
