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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![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
![Robert and his spouse Steven pose with a fluffy poodle.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/robert_frascino_74.jpg?itok=w94Orov2)
On things gained from his time here
“Oberlin taught me many things ... It allowed me to evolve, survive and thrive in ways I never could have imagined on that sunny afternoon thirty-five years ago flinging a Frisbee with Cousin Itt and...
Robert Frascino ’74
![House with many windows](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/lisa_amor_petrov_85.jpg?itok=vqqnfYT8)
On living in the Women’s Collective
“I was blessed by the intimacy that can come from searching, together with other women, for an understanding of what it means to be a feminist.”
Lisa Amor Petrov ’85
![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
![2 jugglers practicing](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/aries_indenbaum_09.jpg?itok=L8VCOkeW)
On Oberlin’s student-run circus
“Circus stood for the things I valued: inclusion, family, daring, theatre without drama, strength, flexibility, clumsiness, music, love. If anyone asked me what I cared about, circus would be one of...
Aries Indenbaum ’09
![Sarah and friends.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/sarah_cheshire_14.jpg?itok=j0S8EWmq)
On learning from peers
“My education at Oberlin has occurred not only in the classroom, but through living and constantly engaging with so many different people from so many different life contexts.”
Sarah Cheshire ’14
![Maurice leads a rehearsal.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/maurice_cohn_17.jpg?itok=BYk82duB)
On conducting a youth orchestra
“Music is a living art, not to be kept in the glass cases of history museums...I can help foster that kind of energy and excitement about performing in another generation of musicians.”
Maurice Cohn ’17
![Group of people standing together, smiling](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/jacob_lamoureux_12.jpg?itok=NEk8ovNx)
On Oberlin’s terrific teachers
“When I graduated from high school, I thought the days of personal relationships with teachers who cared about me were over. Well, I’ve only been wrong once in the past 20 years, and that was it.”
Jacob Lamoureux ’12
![Brenna in front of a rose bush](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/brenna_larson_14.jpg?itok=i0m2LGpA)
On choosing an Oberlin path
“My Oberlin career, like many, has been far from linear, and I am glad that I have strayed from my plan. A planner at heart, changing gears, changing life goals, was a rocky and emotional process,...
Brenna Larson ’14
![A trio plays music in the children's section of the public library.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/sophie_schacht_10.jpg?itok=N4VCAxEh)
On organizing Dr. Seuss Day at the local public library
“I am one of six people on the varsity softball team who tutors in the Oberlin public schools -- my first order of business was to recruit the entire team.”
Sophie Schacht ’10
![Five performers together on stage.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/molly_gorin_16.jpg?itok=3ODDnxFE)
On merging dance lives
“I never thought I would be able to put a rapper dance side by side with a contemporary duet, but here I am today.”
Molly Gorin ’16
![Jocie and a friend find a balloon by a wall of post office boxes](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/jocie_sobieraj_15.jpg?itok=JJIhuogh)
On birthday celebrations
“Had my roommate known that I had secretly always wanted to do a scavenger hunt for my birthday ever since my older sister had one when I was 8? Probably not.”
Jocie Sobieraj ’15