People Considering going to Oberlin & Reed College

Ghostt
Wed, 02 Jul 2014 11:15:57 +0000

On the contrary, I think anecdotal experiences are a perfectly acceptable thing to share on these boards, as long as they’re presented as such, and not as the universal truth. Really, what else do we have to share with each other, if not anecdotes?

I have to say I found gratefulalum’s anecdote quite funny because it’s such a stereotypical narrative of Reed corrupting the innocent. It makes it sound as if Reed casts some dark spell on unsuspecting suburbanites that makes them get high and wear ugly clothes against their will, whereas in reality people never go down that path in an environment as privileged and controlled as college unless they want to. (I’m not talking about having an unfortunate sexual history or bad luck with relationships, or about people with preexisting addiction issues.) I’m about to be a senior at Reed and I’ve never in my life taken drugs or gotten drunk even though practically all of my friends have. I don’t judge them for it, but I also don’t want those experiences for myself. I’m not curious in the least, and Reed hasn’t changed that. If a person you previously assumed to be purity and American wholesomeness personified comes back home after a couple of semesters in college smelling of vomit and speaking in tongues, in my opinion you need to reevaluate your initial opinion of that person–maybe they were never that happy with the role they’d been pigeon-holed into at home, and were waiting to get away and do some self-exploration–and not of the college they go to.

That being said, there are quite a few people at Reed like that–dress like cult members, never smile, have weird drug habits and traumatic relationships–so it would be silly to censor people’s comments because you find that image offensive. Like every other college, Reed has its flaws, quirks and foibles. One of them is that the school attracts people who are attracted to drugs, dark colors and being cool. They exist. Some of them are very nice, and some just stand around looking weird and scare prospies away.

While I think it’s great you’re so excited to get to Reed, International95, I think your posts sometimes reflect an idealized view of the place that doesn’t quite align with the truth. I’d suggest spending some time on campus before you decide to become the voice of Reed on these boards, since at the moment you simply can’t know if any of what you’re saying is true. I don’t mean this as a criticism but as a caution.

ANYWAY. Sorry for hijacking this thread. I realize I’m on the Oberlin boards, and we should probably go back to talking about Oberlin. So I’ll share my own anecdote in lieu of a conclusion: One of the best students in my high-school class went to Oberlin, dyed her hair, cut off all contact with her family, went ‘goth,’ got married to some drug-addled bum from one of her classes, started posting pictures of herself smoking crack on the internet before going off radar completely, and recently graduated, presumably to a lifetime of Midwestern obscurity. That is how people at home think of her, at least, when they discuss her life. It is my impression that she actually had a lot of issues with her family, and built a support network of people she liked at Oberlin, which enabled her to move on with her life and become the person she had always wanted to be, away from her parents’ disapproval. I think she’s much happier now than she ever was in high school. Surely that is the most important thing?