Oberlin Stories Project
We have collected hundreds of personal narratives from students, alumni, faculty, and staff that explain the merits and strengths of Oberlin through the eyes of those who have experienced it firsthand.
Add your story
On overcoming physical injuries with community support
“Being on the cross-country team has been the glue that has held my Oberlin experience together.”
Gabe Brown ’16
On finding a musical community
“The music, the dancing, the performers--all components of the show emanated pure joy. I hadn’t overlooked, however, that OSteel was quite advanced musically, so it never even crossed my mind that I...
Maya Zeemont ’16
On her first-year dorm
“I hope that incoming Obies who decide to live in Barrows or Dascomb will experience the same feeling I felt often my first year... It was simple, but I felt like I was home. I think that’s good...
Anna Ernst ’10
On falling in love in Russia
“I brought my dictionary everywhere, but sometimes I was amazed that two people could connect in a way, especially with humor, that didn’t always involve complete cognitive understanding.”
Stephanie Patterson ’07
On being part of the Posse scholarship program
“The other students who received a Posse scholarship to go to Oberlin that year were incredible leaders in their communities; I was proud to be included alongside them.”
Hope Rehak ’11
On America’s first black president
“I’m glad and proud that I … and countless other Obies who have also shared their stories here all rejected the paralyzing fear of “otherness” that keeps people apart and keeps our world fragmented.”
Myrina D. McCullough ’69
On the lessons learned working for the Oberlin Review
“[I’ve taken] with me the grinding productivity, invention of necessity, and constant grace under constant pressure that I acquired down in Burton basement.”
Ben Newhouse ’04
On finding his “voice” again after so many years of medical training
“I am blessed that I remained firmly committed to my seemingly disparate passions for voice and medicine. Professor Miller must have been able to see something then that I never could have...
Tom Carroll ’96
On learning to cook in a co-op
“But in a co-op, plan incorrectly and you could be swimming in pinto beans, have enough lasagna to cover a mummy, pop enough popcorn to fill a bathtub - or not prepare enough vegetables to feed a...
Jenny Bower ’13
On her semester abroad
“What does dancing on the bar of a rural Austrian disco have to do with an Oberlin education? (Answer inside!)”
Nora Frederickson ’10
On Oberlin’s inclusive music scene
“Collaboration plays a fundamental role in the community’s constant appetite for great art. This inclusivity is indicative of the communal Oberlin personality that makes it such an incredible place.”
Charles Abbott ’14
On organizing a Bassoon Quartet tour of China
“As someone who was reluctant to go to college “in the middle of a bunch of cornfields,” I now can’t imagine having gone anywhere else for school ... no other institution would be so supportive of my...
Joycelyn Eby ’09