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.
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![Three people doing tai chi in the woods](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/corey_patrick_harkins_12.jpg?itok=eFe2f2rY)
On creating the Ecology Meditation Mindfulness ExCo
“Each week we intertwined meditation and mindfulness activities into our learning ... we always left with mud on our jeans and smiles on our faces.”
Corey Patrick Harkins ’12
![Rachel in the company of 4 young Nicaraguan children.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/rachel_b_15.jpg?itok=ZYjjJQa9)
On studying the legacy of war in Nicaragua
“I set out to learn from the village’s people by gathering oral histories of those who were living during the war and learning how it changed their lives and their country.”
Rachel B. ’15
![Lauren by a bronze sculpture of a wolf suckling two human infants](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/lauren_clark_11.jpg?itok=7J9QRuyF)
On the integration of classics in her life
“I’ve found beauty and strength in recognizing temporality, which has brought me to understand translation across language and temporal boundaries as a positive and connective process.”
Lauren Clark ’11
![Two football players in the 1980s wearing numbers 64 and 67](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/dore_kiesselbach_88.jpg?itok=CqcxYpgy)
On his poem about football at Oberlin
“The moment of revelatory tenderness I try to capture in this poem, exposed as it was by this rough game, meant as much to me as anything else I experienced as a student and remains very poignant to...
Dore Kiesselbach ’88
![Ruth Adler Rosensweig. Black & white yearbook photo.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/ruth_adler_rosensweig_68.jpg?itok=6cc-h5Tp)
On the emergence of political awareness
“Before coming to Oberlin, I had never seen a demonstration or sit-in or even considered challenging government or college administration policy.”
Ruth Adler Rosensweig ’68
![Steel drum band performing outdoors](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/alicia_dudziak_13.jpg?itok=qVouuFu8)
On joining OSteel
“I loved that I began to feel like a good musician even though my musical experience had been limited since age 10, when I quit piano.”
Alicia Dudziak ’13
![Mack walks along a city street.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/mack_gelber_10.jpg?itok=cvW9wEYx)
On exploring the radically shifting publishing world
“This is the chief thrill of interning at a literary agency. You never know if the next manuscript in the stack is going to be a dud or the potential classic of our time.”
Mack Gelber ’10
![Francesca hand out information while wearing a Day of Service 2008 tee shirt](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/francesca_minonne_08.jpg?itok=AYAV0hyH)
On her connection to the town of Oberlin
“I will take what I have learned with me: that academics and civic engagement can and should be combined, producing something far more enriching together than either alone.”
Francesca Minonne ’08
![Three runners in rain-soaked cross country team uniforms](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/gabe_brown_16.jpg?itok=yHng5M7n)
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
![Sean is positioned at one section of a sprawling Gamelan. Many of the pieces resemble xylophones.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/sean_hanson_11.jpg?itok=1nGURUZd)
On learning to play the Gamelan
“...the difficulty helps me begin to lose my identity in the group and let me center myself. It’s become a way of life for me, and changed the way I view everything around me.”
Sean Hanson ’11
![Anna shows off the garden next to Barrows](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/anna_ernst_10.jpg?itok=3kkHJ5aa)
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
![Meghan wears a honemade, cardboard TV costume at the soccer field.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/meghan_schott_06.jpg?itok=Rf0nAPWc)
On the freedom to be herself
“At Oberlin, for the first time I was able to venture well outside-the-box without criticism. For Halloween, the soccer staff allowed the players to dress up for practice ... [and I] decided to be a...
Meghan Schott ’06