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Location: Oberlin, Ohio
Student: Tom Cline '18
I was responsible for making sure all of the lights were hung, focused, and working for the show, according to the light plot, as well as setting up any special practical units (like the chandelier) that were in the show.
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Volunteering in Vietnam
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
Student: Gabriel Hitchcock '17
I spent four weeks in Hanoi volunteering at a traditional medicine hospital, where I helped to prepare and administer medication, all while getting to explore what is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.
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Concert Halls and Castles
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Students: Christiana Rose '16, Daniel Karcher '17
We spent our winter term presenting our sound art and compositions and attending lectures at the University of Aberdeen's sonic arts program. We also got to spend a week taking in the historic castles and modern concert halls of Scotland.
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Taiko Members Hone Their Craft
Location: San Jose, California
Students: Matthew Blankinship '17, Miles Ginoza '17, Holly Hoang '17
We were able to take private lessons with members of San Jose Taiko, to not only improve our own taiko playing abilities and bring that knowledge back to our student group, Oberlin College Taiko.
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Growing Organics Down Under
Location: Akatarawa Valley, New Zealand
Student: Kendra Lockard '19
I volunteered on a World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farm (WWOOF) in New Zealand, where did all kinds of work, including picked blueberries and blackberries, and sanding down tables and benches.
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SANCA Circus School
Location: Seattle, Washington
Student: Teague Harvey '19
At the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts in Seattle, a bunch of Oberlin alumni have been running a Winter Term Circus Intensive for Oberlin students, though it has expanded to be open to everyone else in the world. In addition to the daily conditioning and stretching, I learned all kinds of skills, from Tumbling to Aerials to even the Flying Trapeze.
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Solidarity with El Salvador
Location: Santa Marta, El Salvador
Student: Esther Espeland '17
I and nine other Oberlin students from the organization Oberlin in Solidarity with El Salvador (OSES) traveled to the community of Santa Marta, where we lived with host families while we worked at, and with, various organizations in the community, met and learned from its people, and heard testimonies about the brutal 12-year civil war.
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Aye, Sea Turtles
Location: Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Student: Marie Lilly '17
I spent my winter term volunteering with the Institue for Field Research Experience in Costa Rica, where I worked as part of team that studied sea turtles' in-water behavior. I liked it so much that I'm goinng to go back again next year!
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Straight to the Source
Location: Ghana
Student: Richard Tran '16
I traveled throughout Ghana to study traditional and contemporary art forms with local artists, including papermaking, batik, weaving, glass-bead making, and pottery, a favorite of mine, in part because of how it was utilized by every civilization at one point or another.
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Policy, People, and Organizing
Location: Portland, Oregon
Student: Kiley Peterson '17
I interned at OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, which dedicates itself to grassroots organizing and leadership development of local, historically marginalized communities. I focused on interviewing OPAL’s volunteers, board members, and other environmental justice activists in the area, along with producing social media content, blogs, and some photography.
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Story Pirates
Location: NYC, New York
Student: Ma'ayan Plaut '10
On a whim, I applied to the Striking Viking Story Pirates, whose aim is to show kids the power of their creativity and words with writing workshops and theater shows based on the kids' writing. In addition to the videography and editing internship, I did a photodocumentary of the organization and its productions.
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We Don’t Believe in Winter
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Student: Chinwe Okona '13
I was at the McKnight Brain Institute in the University of Florida neuropsychology department, diong clinical research for their "Vital Study", which aims to determine how cognitive training and physical exercise interact to improve the mental function of healthy elders.
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Lessons in Hokkien
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Student: Zoë McLaughlin '11
I spent my winter term learning Hokkien, the dialect of Chinese spoken in Malaysia, which is where my mum is from, as well as where several of my relatives still live, including my grandparents.
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Obies Using Languages
Location: Monteverde, Costa Rica
Student: Julia Pearlstein-Levy '15
The first part of my Winter Term was spent backpacking with some Costa Rican students and working on improving my Spanish fluency. Eventually I ended up in Monteverde, where I stayed with local artist Ana Ovares and helped her oper her new business, “La Macorbíotíca”, which centers around natural holistic foods, and healing through massage.
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Oral Health
Location: Namibia
Student: Richard McGuire '14
I found myself in northern Namibia, where I worked with primary school children and conducted fieldwork on the state of dental health in the region. My goal is to develop a nonprofit initiative that will present creative educational media on the importance of maintaining oral health, which is one of the most neglected areas of global health.
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Yoga Pilgrimmage
Location: Mysore, India
Student: Alexander Bianchi '13
As part of my project "Becoming a Breath: a Critical Field Study of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Practice", I spent a month in India practicing and observing at Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute, which is considered the origin-place of Ashtanga yoga, a breath-focused, flowing, physically demanding form of yoga that I have been studing for two and a half years.
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Braaaaaiiiiinssssss….
Location: Fujian, China
Student: Kendra Lian '16
I had the opportunity to shadow two doctors at the Fujian Medical University Hospital, where I got to experience several surgeries, such as a brain surgery and an ACL surgery, which was surreal as it was something I had undergone only a few months earlier. Just being able to stand so close and admire over 40 years' worth of thoughts, information, actions, and reactions was an amazing feeling.
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