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
![Tyler Robinson](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/tyler_robinson_11.jpg?itok=1DkPCDaH)
On being selected as a Cole Scholar
“Across the board, students emerge from the program feeling academically invigorated, and many have a keener sense of personal identity. I am no exception.”
Tyler Robinson ’11
![Aaron before a winter landscape](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/aaron_kokotek_11.jpg?itok=9MTb-9lv)
On researching wolves in Minnesota
“We heard howls in the distance, howled in response, and heard the wolf pack reply to our call.”
Aaron Kokotek ’11
![Patty Stubel on stage.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/patty_stubel_09.jpg?itok=5dqBJJwl)
On playing Ottavia
“While it’s entertaining to talk about my grand expertise in lying on the floor, this experience truly did expand my abilities as a performer.”
Patty Stubel ’09
![Woan stands by a grand piano.](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/woan_foong_wong_09.jpg?itok=_is7s1cr)
On a day in the life of a double-degree student
“I was congratulated by friends who had either attended my honors economics presentation or had played my piece in the orchestra... how impossible my life would have been had I taken my diverse...
Woan Foong Wong ’09
![Two people in groovy 1970s attire pose by a boulder painted with the words, Look Ma, We Made It](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/elizabeth_taylor_quilliam_74.jpg?itok=draOo5YV)
On the influence of an Oberlin education
“Oberlin was not simply a 4-year stopping point, but has been and continues to be an essential part of my journey. It taught me to be ever vigilant in seeking social justice, curious, caring, open to...
Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam ’74
![Group of students in a museum](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/althea_lamel_13.jpg?itok=tK-9Acdk)
On growing
“I realized I had come a long way from the student who sat in that class three years earlier doubting herself. I had become the articulate college student who had intimidated me so much in my first...
Althea Lamel ’13
![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
![An Oberlin soccer player in action](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/galen_brennan_17.jpg?itok=0w92XBEd)
On teammates becoming family
“In our most important game of the year, I stepped on the field for only the second time that year, a moment that made me realize how important the team had become for me. ”
Galen Brennan ’17
![Street musicians in India playing flute](https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/styles/story_350/public/content/story/image/anne_richmond_83.jpg?itok=wyjpEmGb)
On moving to India after graduation
“There is nothing like being immersed in another culture -- no longer being the majority -- to force one to recognize what profoundly cultural beings we really are.”
Anne Richmond ’83
![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
![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