Oberlin Blogs

In this post: whining, zingers, too many words, neuroses, a moral, unplayable atonal blah blah blah, a payoff for those who wade through 900-odd words.

Co-ops are wonderful, and the food is great. Do not worry, first years I've talked to who have expressed their doubts about this!

Way to rain on my Labor Day parade, Ohio. Even after four years, I still don't understand your weather patterns.

Yard sales, integrating into the Oberlin community, and the hunt for the perfect antique desk.

Since several students have written about the excitement and sense of anticipation embodied in the start of the school year, I hope I won't seem too cranky in saying that Orientation always leaves me feeling at least as disoriented as the first-years.

I mentioned before that the first few weeks of college equals '50s housewife meets college student: shopping for classes, ironing out schedules, and cleaning and unpacking all belongings, and if the weather doesn't take the temperature dip it did a few days ago, flowery dresses and sunglasses.

Oberlin parents are just amazing. When I called to offer to take some Oberlin parents in Quito out for coffee, they instead invited me into their home for a delicious dinner.

Every day so far, I've had something to do during every hour until ten o'clock at night.

If you are interested enough to know how clouds form, then you might also be interested to know about one of the really cool pieces of equipment that we have in Oberlin's chemistry department - a custom-built turbulent flow chemical ionization mass spectrometer.

As I mentioned before, I was back early as an academic ambassador, a friendly, name-tag-emblazoned helpful upperclassman to help the overwhelmed freshmen during their first academic duties. Other than the perk of arriving back on campus early, I got to meet a number of extraordinary new students.

Last year Oberlin students did more than 60,000 hours of community service - that we know of. None of it was required.

I'm the kind of person who enjoys anticipation. I do like getting new stuff and experiencing new adventures, but I also really enjoy thinking about them before they happen.