I’m sure you’ve all heard about how Oberlin students have anywhere between a 30 percent and 60 percent chance of marrying another Obie. I remember hearing about it and wondering how that was even possible, especially since it’s hard enough to date in that little town.

A group of us in South were talking during our first year and found our common denominator to be Capri Suns in our lunches growing up. But what brings us Obies together? I’ve found that the stereotypes of our liberal politics, eating habits and thought processes believed outside Oberlin are very real in their consequences.

Being in the real world has made me take on that stereotype head on. I hear things like, “That’s so Oberlin,” so often. But there was never a big Freshman 101 class on how to be an Obie. There was no personality test on our applications to make sure all the right kids showed up. And we’re not all the same. This weekend, I found out that I’m a four on the enneagram and ENTJ on Meyers-Briggs. I’m guessing that if I polled the student body, I wouldn’t find a vast majority with the same results. We’d probably be all over the place.

Many seniors are parading campus wanting to get away, but beware, those thoughts will haunt you later on. The real world has different priorities than you and I do. The real world is often a lot more surface than we’d all like to think.

So here I am, living in the city of Cleveland, and I’m going nuts. Where are the people around here who have something to say when they talk? Where are the people who have backbones and believe in things and fight for them? Where are they?? I miss all of the things that I never thought I would.

I find myself looking for Obies or Obie-look-alikes just to hang out with. I crave intellectual stimuli. I want someone to be around that doesn’t look at me quizzically as I unleash my thoughts on whatever we’re talking about.

No, I was not the A plus Oberlin student or the super-activist, but there is something about having one of those around that is now like a security blanket to me. It became one when I wasn’t even looking, sometime between my LGBT writing class freshman year and shaking Nancy’s hand as I grabbed my diploma.

I’m starting to see how it could be possible for that huge number of graduates to find each other and spend a lifetime together. It’s all falling into place. Somehow the student body at Oberlin comes together for a reason, and that sticks with us. I guess the only question now is how come the post-graduating dating scene is easier than on campus?