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
![A basketball player shoots the ball](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/christina_spencer_11.jpg?itok=awTyZRjR)
On injury
“For the past week, I’ve had to sit out from the Yeowomen’s Basketball team with a sprained ankle. Being unable to play or practice has only intensified my passion for this sport. Now, I crave...
Christina Spencer ’11
![Group of people riding in the back of a pickup truck.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/toussaint_mears-clarke_09.jpg?itok=hHTL_T7r)
On academics at Oberlin
“Understanding the subject matter of any class at Oberlin is an undertaking that requires a deliberate purpose of mind. Professors bring you to understand a subject without ever just giving you the...
Toussaint Mears-Clarke ’09
![A professor handles a test tube while Olivia looks on.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/olivia_winter_08.jpg?itok=i69N-s7I)
On being a researcher
“I am excited about asking questions, picking apart ideas, and proposing new ways of thinking about problems. I obsess over the details of study designs and execution, all the while striving to be...
Olivia Winter ’08
![Group of 16 people, most in matching tee shirts](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/dan_barella_15.jpg?itok=L9Jlcdpo)
On the connections between Capoeira and social rights activism
“The conversation starts with you. You can’t sit around waiting for someone else to start it for you.”
Dan Barella ’15
![Group of students seated on a staircase](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/abbas_mohsin_13.jpg?itok=51Kf3mws)
On being a part of the Student Finance Committee
“Oberlin retains a special place in my heart because of the people, and being part of the student organization at the core of student life on campus helped me cultivate those friendships.”
Abbas Mohsin ’13
![R. Jon MacDonald](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/r_jon_macdonald_03.jpg?itok=t9B6I5X7)
On entrepreneurship
“The flexibility and desire to allow students to do what they believe is best for them has paid off in more ways than I can count and led to lifelong entrepreneur endeavors.”
R. Jon MacDonald ’03
![Ellen and friends on the walkway of an urban bridge](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/ellen_drake_15.jpg?itok=lS4VodcR)
On trying new things
“My whole life I have opposed most forms of personal change with all of my being...Much to my surprise, I felt my anxiety start to abate within hours of being on campus.”
Ellen Drake ’15
![Kim wears a chicken hat with mock seriousness](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/kym_buzdygon_07.jpg?itok=bdaAIJLo)
On starting the Free Store
“I am so grateful to have been at a place where ideas like the Free Store... are so well-received and supported. Oberlin is really a great place to have initiative on any scale.”
Kym Buzdygon ’07
![YouTube screenshot with title Copacabana (Bathroom Concert Series Entry), showing 4 people in a bathroom](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/amanda_nichols_12.jpg?itok=OQHWqTuY)
On making a video for an Ellen DeGeneres Show contest
“I had only known these people for a couple of months, and I was not only asking them to dance and sing in a public place, but I was also potentially asking them to do it on national television (if...
Amanda Nichols ’12
![Women in colorful skirts dance in the quad.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/rose_wesche_12.jpg?itok=CYthzri0)
On living in a program house
“I can’t wait to return to Asia House in the fall. I believe that program houses offer a concentrated version of Oberlin-- fellowship, community, and learning all packed together into single...
Rose Wesche ’12
![Georgia feeds animals, possibly alpacas, through a fence](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/georgia_horn_12.jpg?itok=Vs6fZG7H)
On being an art history major
“Thirteen years later, as a freshman in college, I found the perfect outlet for my misguided artistic endeavors: art history.”
Georgia Horn ’12
![Group of students, several holding signs that say Vote 2010](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/lyz_glickman_13.jpg?itok=vUxL9iwE)
On OC Dems
“it is a collaborative organization that seeks to educate students and community members and promote political action, no matter which side of the aisle a person happens to fall in.”
Lyz Glickman ’13