Codename: White Squirrel (or) Metaphors We Live By

It's not my reunion, I'm just here. I climbed in the car with some friends who actually belong at this reunion, and here I am, back in Oberlin after a year away. Well, strictly speaking, I was here in December. My part is sunburned from sitting out on Tappan, and I have seen, and been involved in, a seemingly endless parade of squeals, "Oh my god"s, and hugs. My first drink at the Feve last night was everything I had dreamed it would be, including cheap. Yes, there are people missing. Yes, there are people who have changed, not always for the better. There are people here that I never thought twice about, who are still glad to see me, and I them. There's an atmosphere of Obieness that makes me smile just to think on it. It would be naive and just plain wrong to say I love everything about this place, but I think I can safely say I am in love with the place. Just like a person, Oberlin has its faults, as a city and as a college. It has misguided attempts to do the right thing, blind-spots when it comes to common sense, and apparently a pretty sizable drinking problem. Just like a person, though, it's easy to look past faults when there's a good heart behind them. It's smart and self-aware, giddy and occasionally morose, kind and cruel. Being away, being back, makes me love it all the more. Makes me want to give myself to it. I find myself lying on the grass, looking up through the leaves of a tree that I am certain has served as a home to both albino and white squirrels, thinking of ways I could justify moving back. I want to help the college. I believe in Oberlin, both city and college, at a time in my life when belief is hard to come by. I'll find a way to come back. I feel like I have to. I've met amazing people in Boston, and while I've not enjoyed some aspects of being there, I'm not sorry I went. I've seen what life outside the bubble can be like, both for good and ill. The benefits are, obviously, substantial. The problems are, equally obviously, equally substantial. For me, what Boston has changed in me is not creating an appreciation for Oberlin that didn't exist before. Nor is it turning me against the "outside world," but rather it has given me increased contrast, a wider palate with which to paint my life. But the canvas is here in Ohio.