I was worried about living in a small town, on a small campus. But since arriving to school, I have been overwhelmed with new things to do, see, explore. My whole world on this college campus is new. It helps to write things down and focus on the exciting as I go through daily life here at Oberlin College. Now that I'm a few weeks in, I thought I'd share some of the best discoveries I've found living in small town Ohio thus far.
There is nothing in this world more pure than the excitement of a college student petting a dog. As soon as you see someone walking their dog down the street, a sense of excitement builds up in the students rushing to and from class. It doesn’t matter where we’re going. We all stop to ask if we can pet that dog. I am not even ashamed to admit that I ran from the sidelines in the middle of a Quidditch tournament to pet a dachshund named Pie. On my stroll to the mailroom I joined a group of Obies petting a chocolate lab puppy named Chuck. We all agreed it was one of the best life experiences of our college lives. In the mailroom, I met a dog who apparently lives on the first floor of my building. Which!!! Dog!!! In my building!!! Such good news.
There’s a woman who rides her bike through Tappan Square every day (Tappan is a big park that I cross on my way from campus to town.) Her dog runs with her. I am terribly upset to say that I can’t remember the dog’s name, but for the purposes of this story, we’ll call her Betsy. I paused to pet Betsy, and told the woman how much I missed my Pinky back home.
She said, “We ride through town almost every day. Betsy can be your dog while you’re here.”
You guys I almost cried. That was the nicest thing to hear ever. I have an Oberlin dog! Everything is right in the world.
There are stores here that sell literally everything. I guess that’s extra good because when winter comes, I won’t want to travel very far to get my necessities. Especially not since I’m just traveling on my own to feet.
I can go to Ben Franklin & MindFair Books, and have my selection of reading material, school supplies, snacks, arts and craft materials, birthday cards, Thanksgiving cards...the list is probably neverending, because I still haven’t figured out what all they have in there. Nextdoor is Gibson’s, which covers all my baked good needs, every grocery and household supply I could possibly desire, plus more school supplies! Both are right along the street where our campus meets Downtown Oberlin, and both make me very very happy.
Traveling to any town is suddenly an adventure! I love living in Oberlin. It’s small, but not so small that I don’t still have a million things yet to explore. Just small enough that everything is in walking distance! (Which, sidenote, I haven’t had to worry about carsickness once since I got here. Perks!!!)
But the fact that Oberlin has become my whole world means that any jaunt outside of this bubble is an eye opening journey. We travelled to Wooster for a Quidditch tournament. We actually went over hills on the drive there. Hills, guys. Apparently not everything in Ohio is flat?! Going down one of them even made my stomach do the rollercoaster butterfly thing!
We also passed through other towns, with signs up for things like the “Harvest Fest” and little farmers markets and street fairs going on. The schools were brick and the streets busy with people of all ages, not just college students! All the houses were different and interesting, some already decorated for Halloween. It was homey and fun to see so many towns. Seeing a city again will be exciting too, whether it be Cleveland or my lovely home in San Diego, even though I’ve been informed by a classmate that San Diego is “not a real city.” Which, rude. I mean we have Comicon, so ha! We win all things ever.
There’s so much wildlife here! Also so many stars! I love going to the observatory on campus whenever it’s open. That’s always been a dream part of college for me. But I can see so many stars just by walking outside and tilting my head back.
On my first night here I noticed the sheer number of stars. I also noticed a real live skunk! I’ve never seen a skunk in person before! I’d also never seen a cardinal or a bluejay. I had seen deer, but it was still a shock of excitement when our bus passed a pair on the way to Wooster.
People sorta laugh at me when I get so excited about these things, but nature is honestly amazing. I love San Diego with all my heart. I love the lizards and the beach and our scraggly trees. We have some wildlife, but not much of it is out and about when I am, and it’s an entirely different variety. Let’s face it, I grew up in a desert. It’s an awesome desert! But being surrounded by trees is a new thing. Plentiful lakes and ponds? New thing! No drought, less housing developments, and therefore lots of well-fed wildlife? New thing! And I think it’s pretty fantastic.
Doppelgängers are a thing. I remember a couple years back, a girl graduated from my high school and moved on to university. She began posting a Facebook update every time she found a doppelganger of someone she’d known back at our school. I guess I wasn’t sure how true that could be, until it started happening to me too!
It’s interesting. Oberlin is a small school compared to lots of universities out there, and a small town compared to most. But I’m still finding lookalikes to Canyon Crest students! It catches me off guard every time. The people who really remind me of friends back home often don’t look like their San Diego counterparts. The cool thing though, is that even if someone gives me a reminder of home, no one is exactly the same.
I’m enjoying making new connections. I can share stories from home that are fresh to the people I meet here, while building up a new repertoire of adventures and stories to share with my friends and family who are now spread all across the country. I can find little reminders of home and be comforted in that, but also know that I’m on a completely new adventure. I’m on an adventure, without totally leaving San Diego behind. That’s pretty special.
The transportation choices of our student body are pretty great. Most of us don’t have cars. Even if you do, it’s not as if driving around Oberlin is all that necessary. There’s lots of walking. I’ve seen some skateboarders swerving their way along the sidewalks. We are a very bikeable campus. We even have a Bike Co-op where you can rent bikes, learn to repair them, even learn to build one! That’s my ultimate goal. Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance, you know?
My personal favorite mode of transport is the Razor scooter. I had no idea that people really rode them in college, but I’ve seen quite a few and as much as I want a bike I may just have to bring my scooter to school with me. Walking everywhere has been good for me. It’s good thinking time, and it’s pretty healthy too. I was so nervous leading up to school that I didn’t eat very much, so I have no qualms about making the best of our all-you-can-eat dining hall. But the walking can’t hurt. But I think scootering would be just as effective! And it would look so much cooler! Real adults ride scooters, I swear.
