Lizzie teaching Tie Dye to Coach Haught

Lizzie took time out of her schedule to tie dye with Coach Haught. The team all knows how Coach Haught feels about tie dye (he is not a fan), but Lizzie offered to tie dye with him and it was a great success! The only thing is he could probably use a couple more practice rounds before letting anyone wear his tie dye.They both had a great time and are hoping to tie dye with the whole team during pre-season this summer!

Video from Banquet

Here is some of the video from our night. The clips are from our dinner, the seniors and their gifts that Coach Cavanaugh made for them and team awards!

More Pictures from Team Banquet!

OCVB end of the year banquet!

OCVB had their end of the year banquet on Friday December 10th and it was a great time! Laura Jessee was awarded MVP, Maggie Jacobson was awarded Best team player and Chinwe Okona was awarded Most Improved. Not only did these three get honored by their team, but walked away with some great gifts! LJ received an amazing Harry Potter calendar and Harry Potter wall art. Maggie got some great glow sticks to go with her unbelievable dance moves and a couple scarfs to accessories her great fashion style. Chinwe got a five pound gummy bear, because it's something she would take if she was stuck on an island and you never know what might happen. Along with that she received a Harry Potter journal to write down her wonderful thoughts. The team started out the night with a great dinner at Olive Garden. From there we headed back to Wong's house for awards, senior gifts, highlight tape and the team tradition t-shirt exchange.

Wong the beauty Queen of the team

Hey there bloggers!
As you may or may not know, I am the beauty queen on the team. I thought I would share with you my other life. I am an avid participant of the Miss America Organization. I know beauty pageants may seem as though they are filled with bimbos in nice dresses. However, as someone with first-hand experience it is quite the opposite. Preparation for pageants is actually quite extensive. Volleyball has helped me with prep for swimsuit, which I won last weekend! Interview skills come with basic practice. Oberlin has helped me to become more articulate and efficient when speaking both to a panel of judges and on-stage. My weekends typically consist of a pageant or of pageant prep of some kind. The other stereotype is that pageant girls don't eat...that is not TRUE! We eat probably more than most people...but we do want and strive for world peace ;) That's all for now!
-Liz

OCVB off the court!

Hello OCVB world!

Even though season's over, my teammates and I still spend lots of time together. On Monday Laura, Meredith and I (Lizzie) went into Columbus to see a Ben Folds concert. We had some trouble at first -- we went north on Route 58 instead of south, so we were 40 minutes late (eek!) but it didn't matter much. We made it in time to see the opening band, Lady Danville, which was really great. You should definitely look up their music! Two hours later, after the doors opened, Ben finally came on. I've seen him in concert twice before - once in Cleveland and once in New York -- but this was definitely the best he's ever been. He played a lot of new songs from his album Lonely Avenue and a lot of oldies that we recognized. He even covered a new Ke$ha song that was #1 on the charts for a while. We had such a great time, but were exhausted when we got back to Obieland around 2am. This is one of the few times I've been off campus this semester, because normally music groups come to us! Overall, we had such a blast!!

OC volleyball seniors have record breaking performances!

OC volleyball is coming off of a record breaking week! The Yeowomen set the tone of the week by coming back from two sets down to beat OWU. During the course of the victory over OWU senior Amanda Wysk became the kill leader at Oberlin breaking 1,00 kills! Under the leadership of Wysk, Frackman and Jacobson the Yeowomen beat Allegheny College in five sets on Sunday for the first time in school history! Anna Frackman had a stellar week, which led to her breaking the 1,000 dig mark and becoming 2nd in all-time kills with 882!! The leadership of the seniors this week has set the tone to round out the season. Jacobson, Wysk and Frackman have set the standards high in their four years at Oberlin.

Trip to Wisconsin!!!!!!

Hi everyone!

Anna here. This past weekend, our team had the opportunity to travel to Wisconsin (my home state!) to play some new teams and see a part of the country that many of us had not seen before. We drove through the night on Thursday and arrived on Friday morning. We had four matches between Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, none of them went our way, although we definitely learned some important lessons and found some areas that we needed to work on in order to be ready to beat teams like the ones we saw this weekend.

On Saturday night, we had a rousing round of The Game of Things in the hotel, which none of us had ever played before. Sunday we got to go to beautiful Devil's Lake State park in Wisconsin and go canoeing on the lake and hiking up the surrounding bluffs. The weather was a bit chilly for swimming (though Meredith and Maggie braved the water) but it was great for canoeing and hiking. Later we went to Madison and got to have dinner at my house to celebrate my upcoming birthday (I turn 21 on Wednesday). It was great to be able to show my college friends around my neighborhood, and we had a good time eating homemade food and Culver's frozen custart, a real midwest treat, and buying wisconsin cheese to take back to Ohio. We arrived back to Ohio in the early hours of Monday morning, and we are all busily resting up and preparing for classes to start tomorrow! Hope everyone had a great Labor day weekend!

OC VB summer check in from Laura!

My family took a vacation to Egypt this summer! We started our vacation in Cairo. It was an adventure because our bags got lost and we didn't have them for two days! We toured the city visiting the Muhammad Ali mosque and experienced real Cairo driving. Drivers don't obey lines, run lights, and honk constantly-- quite an experience! We left Cairo on an overnight train where we met our bags. The individual compartments where very small and it made stops ALL night but the views out the window were amazing! We made it to Aswan the next day. We saw an unfinished obilisk, toured the Nassar Dam and the Philae Temple. We flew to Abu Smbel the next morning. This was my favorite temple! It was created by Ramses to show his Southern neighbors that his empire was powerful and to portray himself as a deity. We arrived on our cruise ship that night and begun our cruise down the nile! My favorite part of the cruise was the Egyptian night. Our group dressed up in Egyptian clothes and the workers played instruments and showed us how to dance. We toured a few more temples in Luxor and Edfu. On the last day of the cruise we toured the Valley of the Kings where all the pharaohs were buried in luxurious tombs. There were sixty two temples but we were only able to tour three. I remember that day was VERY hot, almost 125 degrees! We then toured a HUGE mortuary tomb for the only female pharaoh. Our last stop was the temple of Karnak which is the largest temple devoted to any deity in all history. We flew back to Cairo the next day to see the great pyramids. We went inside the second largest pyramid, the walk down was super steep and it was very humid! We saw the sphinx as well and went to the sound and light show.

The rest of my summer was far less exciting. Most days I hang out and play around with my friends and sisters. We go hiking often and spend days tubing and discovering new watering holes. But I also had two jobs, one at a nursery and one at an ice cream shop. And I volunteer at my local dog and cat shelter two or three times a week.

I visited Rosie last weekend! We made vegan fudge, went thrift shopping, and watched this crazy Japanese movie called Tampopo.

I can't wait to get back to school and see all yalls beautiful faces!

OC VB summer check in from Kristen!

Hey Guys!

This summer has been great so far. I’ve been working as a tennis instructor for kids at different YMCA summer camps all over Atlanta. Most of these kids have never been introduced to the sport, and it’s really exciting to be able to teach them something new. Some of the kids get really excited about it and are so eager to learn. Those are the ones that make my job fun. But in between dodging kids dangerously wielding tennis rackets and nursing bruises from misplaced tennis balls, I’ve been working out and hanging out with my friends. We’re all big music fans, so you can imagine our excitement when we saw a little impromptu jam session going on at the square in Downtown Decatur. It was a local band just kind of hanging out and having fun with whoever else happened to be there. It’s the kind of thing you see in movies and stuff, but it’s pretty magical to actually be a part of it. We liked them so much that we went to a show they were playing in the area. It was so much fun, and it reminded me how great local music can be.

This week has been the most exciting by far, though. I’ve been vacationing with my family in the beautiful US Virgin Islands. I’ve been taking this time to relax on the beach, soak up some sun, and hang out with my family. It is sooo beautiful here. The water is crystal clear and the sand is white. It’s impossible to not be happy here. I’ve most enjoyed the days when we went on sailing trips. We sailed to the British Virgin Islands and to different snorkeling spots. This was my first time snorkeling ever, and it’s really cool. I got to see all sorts of sea creatures. I am terribly afraid of critters in the land or sea, so I expected to not enjoy snorkeling too much. I thought I would just be a big scaredy cat. But once I started, I was mesmerized by the things that I saw. It was like swimming through my own little aquarium. I saw schools of fish and massive sting rays. I was really freaked out when I saw a huge shark lying on the ocean floor. Our boat’s captain told me that it was a nurse shark and it didn’t have any teeth and mostly slept during the day, but still, it was pretty frightening. Turtles are one of my favorite animals on the planet, so I was really excited when I spotted a sea turtle. I followed it around the reef until I got tired.

This has been a fabulous vacation, but I’m excited to be headed home soon. There’s only one more week before I load all of my stuff in the car and head up to Oberlin. I couldn’t be more excited. So I’ve got a week of packing up my life and saying goodbyes ahead of me. And then I’ll be saying hello to Oberlin and my new family there.

Hope everyone’s summer is going great!!!

OC VB summer check in from Maggie!

After a whirlwind semester studying abroad in France, a return trip involving a lost pass port and a lost wallet in two different cities, I made it home to Carefree, Arizona. Right away, I began working for my cousin doing data entry, which has been an awesome job that has taught me a lot. After three weeks of Arizona where I successfully re-adapted to American things like eating dinner before 9 o’clock, smiling at strangers and tipping at restaurants, I went to Michigan for two weeks to work at my cousin’s office. It was really cool because all of my extended family is in Michigan and I got to hang out with a lot of cousins.


After Michigan, I came back to Arizona for a few more weeks. Thanks to summer storms, I was able to take advantage of the landscape and do a lot of hiking and horse back riding. My favorite hiking story was at the Grand Canyon. A friend from France who spent a year at Oberlin was visiting the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley with some friends so I drove out there to hang out with her. We decided to hike for a few hours down into the Grand Canyon. When we stopped going down and started going back up it was 110 degrees and we thought we were going to die of sunstroke (not really, but that’s what it felt like). However, when we reached the top, a huge storm had come and the temperature dropped to about 60 degrees and it started pouring. We could not believe how we went from baking to freezing so fast.


Next week I will begin the three day, cross country adventure of driving from Arizona back to Oberlin. It should be a blast involving tourist traps, lot's of playlists and 1,500 miles of interstate 40.

OC VB summer check in from travelling Amanda

Hey all,
My summer is going great so far! I’ve been traveling a lot, hanging out with friends, and relaxing as much as I can before the busy school year starts. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve done and what I still have left to do.

In June I went to Mansfield, Ohio to support Liz during Miss Ohio week. It was fun, intense, and crazy to see how much work all the girls put in. After that, I went home with Liz and spent a few weeks in Connecticut. We mostly just hung out, but the more exciting parts of the trip were attending the PGA Tournament and going to Cape Cod for the 4th of July weekend. While there we did lots of fun things like hitting up the beach, going whale watching, seeing fireworks, and some shopping.

I came back to Wisconsin around mid July, but right away went up north with friends. For those who don’t know, “up north” means that you stay in a cabin, cottage, or camp somewhere in Wisconsin north of where you actually live (I think the unofficial cut off is that you must be at least north of the Dells for it to count as up north, but that’s just my opinion). Since then I’ve had about a week’s worth of birthday celebrations because getting all of my friends together on one day is almost impossible due to where everybody lives and crazy work schedules.

Currently I’m coaching a volleyball camp and I don’t have any other big plans until August. I can’t wait though because in the span of a week I’m having a friend visit from Ohio and we’re seeing a concert, I’m going to Minnesota for a weekend, and I’ll be hitting up State Fair which is always a fun time. The only bad thing about this summer has been the severe weather. My area has seen two rounds of tornadoes and severe flooding. The first caused us to lose every tree but one and we needed a new roof put on, and the second caused unprecedented flooding in several counties that is still not all cleaned up yet (perhaps you saw on Yahoo or something about the sinkhole in Milwaukee that swallowed an SUV…not good).

All in all my summer has been amazing. I hope to have a great next 3 weeks free of scary weather and then I’ll be seeing everybody back on campus!

OC VB summer check in from Meredith in the exciting city of Rye

Hi all! My summer has been pretty busy thus far. Like some of the other girls I've attended my fair share of concerts including Carole King & James Taylor, Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club, Jack Johnson and most recently Dave Matthews Band. I've been trying to take advantage of my proximity to both the beach and new york city.

My town, Rye, is right on the water and we also have a theme park here, Playland and the beaches attract people from all over. It's especially fun to go out to the beach on the weekend nights when Playland sets off fireworks! I've also spend some of my free time with my dog Cody, this is his first summer with my family since we adopted him in September. On milder days we'll walk down to the beach and along the pier. However it has been so hot lately he'll just accompany me on a lounge chair in the back yard. I've been going down to one of the private beach that I belong to almost every Saturday and Sunday. LI sound has been so nice I've gone swimming everyday in it... it could be that I'm paranoid I won't be able to if oil reaches New York!

Last week I met one of my friends after they got out of their job in NYC we went to Bryant Park for a picnic dinner and they had an outdoor yoga class going on, there must have been 200 people doing yoga it was funny to watch but we were tempted to join in...it was too bad I was wearing a skirt!

This is my second summer working as a camp counselor at one of the many country clubs in Rye it's been fun for the most part but definitely difficult on the 100 degree days. My group of girls are between 7 and 11. I'm most excited for tomorrow which is tie dye day! Today was fun even though it rained, we made up our own version of California Girls to sing at the closing ceremony and the girls are very excited to have our own original song to do.

Other than that Rye has been under Coyote watch, they've always been around in Rye because we're near the water and have lots of marsh land and small nature reservations where deer live. But recently the Coyotes have gotten more aggressive and bigger! They've attacked a couple kids in our town but the kids have all gotten by with stitches and rabies shots. This morning I even saw three deer in my neighbor's yard, and I live on a main street! And we have a saying in Rye
"where there are Deer the Coyotes will come". But after I saw the Eclipse movie, I'm hoping it will just turn out to be Jacob Black coming to hang out with me haha!

Overall I've had a pretty fun summer, it probably helps that now I'm feeling tan and fit! I can't wait to move in and get to see everyone again! Enjoy the sun!

OC VB summer check in from Chinwe in beautiful San Francisco

Helloooo from San Francisco! For those of you who don’t already know, I’ve been on the West Coast since May 24th, interning at the University of California, San Francisco, in the Diabetes Center. This is my first major research experience, and I love it so much more than I expected to. My project consists of studying decreased metabolic function in humans with age. Certain neurons in the hypothalamic region of the brain respond less and less to leptin (a hormone responsible for regulating energy intake and expenditure) as time goes by and create what we call “rings” in this section of the brain. My mentor has done a bunch of research and found out, not only that information, but also that the formation of “rings” correlates with age-related weight gain. However, she has only done these studies with male mice. My job this summer is to see if the same holds true for female mice and to see if estrogen, or the lack thereof, plays a role in the development of “rings” and age-related weight gain.
Other than being a complete nerd and enjoying all of the super science-y aspects, I love the lab atmosphere and personal. I work with people from the United Kingdom, Egypt, Russia, Sweden, China, France, Spain, Brazil, South Korea, Burma, the Netherlands, and India, just to name a few places off the top of my head. Being around so many different languages and cultures is super refreshing, especially when everyone is really nice and down to earth. The best part was how competitive people got during the World Cup; it was lots and lots of fun.
Even though I spend hours and hours with my face attached to a microscope, I have done quite a bit of sightseeing, attended San Francisco Pride (which was AMAZING), and even driven down the state to Santa Barbara twice. My family arrives tomorrow (Wednesday) for a short visit, and we’ve planned to go to Napa, walk the Golden Gate Bridge, and maybe even take a ferry to Alcatraz, so exciting! Overall, the best, best thing about the city is how fashionable people are. I’ve picked up a lot of new things; you’re all going to be so proud of me for wearing stuff other than sweatpants come this year.
Other than that, I’m missing you all so much. Pacific Time is pretty difficult for me, I don’t like being on a different social schedule than everyone in my life. Truth be told, I’m really an East Coast girl. On a happier note, I was just watching the video on our Go Yeo page yesterday and I must say, we look pretty darn good. I’m excited to get back in the gym, especially with our new players, and dominate (as dear Tammela Platt would say)! Be thinking of me when I head to Atlanta on August 3rd to present my research, and I can’t wait to see you all come August 18th!

OC VB summer check in from Anna in Dairyland

Hey Guys!
Anna here, checking in from America's Dairyland. I'm here in Madison, Wisconsin this summer working as a neurogenetics intern in a lab in the genetics department at UW Madison. We are working with Drosophila (fruit flies) and trying to determine the genetic factors that influence the development of the neuromuscular junction (the place where the brain talks to the muscles). I have a lot of independence in the lab this summer, which is nice. I am planning my own experiments and so far have been fairly successful. The internship is a lot of work, but it is motivating me to work even harder in school. Other than the job, I have spent a lot of my summer writing essays for fellowships that I am applying to in the fall and studying for the GRE which I will take right at the end of summer.

I have had some time for fun, though. Madison hosts the Midwest's largest fireworks display which called Rhythm and Booms. The fireworks display starts with a true military F16 flyover and the whole show is set to music which is played over the radio on a local radio station. They shoot the fireworks over the lake, but people gather with their radios in different places all over the city to watch. My friends and I took some canoes out on the lake this year and had a picnic on the water while watching the fireworks right over our heads. I couldn't believe how close they looked! I also had the chance to go to Summerfest last week. Summerfest is America's largest music festival and it goes on along the lakefront in Milwaukee with 11 sound stages playing simultaneously. I headed over with some friends for a few days of food and fun, and I got to see Usher, The Heavy, The Bravery, Modest Mouse and a couple of others (the picture above is from The Bravery). This weekend, I am heading off to California to visit family and soak up the sun. Hope all of your summers are as good as mine!

OC VB summer check in from Wong and life in the pageant world!

What have I been up to this summer?! I don't even know where to begin. I am the current Miss Huron County and have had to opportunity to compete for Miss Ohio, the official preliminary to Miss America. It has been quite the experience. It was only my first year at states and I have learned so much. I made a few errors but minor glitches that can be fixed for next year. I am truly blessed to have competed. Our first day we had rehearsal after rehearsal. Day two, I was a part of a fashion show at the mall. I sported a bohemian look and totally rocked the runway. Then it was back to rehearsal in the freezing cold theater. Day three, was the parade. I sat on the back of a convertible and waved to the hundreds of Mansfield locals. My title was on a sign on the side of the car and they announced me as I hit certain spots on the parade route. Day four was all about rehearsals. We learned three opening number routines and a production number. The production number was AMAZING! We did Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and got to create our own costumes. My outfit was equipped with soda cans in my hair. The next day was celebrity waitressing at Applebee's. Basically, we had to ask people to buy paper crowns to support the program. Amanda (teammate support here!) came and supported me at Applebee's and allowed me to eat some of her delicious food. For some reason, the Miss Ohio program thinks girls our age LOVE chicken salad...because it was served to us at EVERY meal! On Tuesday, was my interview. My interview went really well and I felt very comfortable in front of the judges. That night was the teen pageant and the girl that won was a doll. She is so sweet and beautiful. Cecili most definitely deserved it.
Wednesday night was the first night of preliminaries. I, being contestant number one, had talent first. I did a lyrical routine and felt rather good about it. Being a volleyball player, I did not think twice about the massive bruise and floor burn I walked away with after my dance. Thursday night was swimsuit. It's my favorite part of the competition because I know I work out haha. My swimsuit was red and I felt comfortable strutting my stuff. Friday night was evening gown and on-stage question...here is the where the learning experience comes into play. My evening gown went well. I walked a bit fast but I felt like a star in my gown. On-stage question stressed me out. My question was super easy and I just choked...Thank goodness it's only 5% of your score! My answer was downright awful. I panicked, but at the end of the day, I learned from it and can laugh at it now. Saturday was finals night and although I didn't make top 10, I was proud of what I accomplished and I'm proud to have represented Oberlin. I'll definitely be competing at locals again this coming year in hopes to pursue my dreams of becoming the next Miss Ohio.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and I cannot wait to see how awesome our team looks come the fall. I'm back to working out at full force and am enjoying spending time with my mom and my fellow teammate, Amanda. See you in August!

OC VB summer check in from Lizzie

Hi OCVB world!


My summer has been extremely busy and fun so far! I have been reaping the benefits of living in Manhattan everyday. I went to see a Broadway show, Promises, Promises, and went to the new Yankee stadium (we won!) I have been going to a bunch of concerts: Jordin Sparks, The Neville Brothers, James Taylor & Carole King, and the New Kids on the Block. I saw Cynthia Nixon on the street right outside my house, which was fun and unexpected! I spent a weekend in Boston visiting an Obie friend and am taking the bus down to DC to visit my roommate in a few weeks.


I started my job this week and I love it! Essentially, I am teaching literacy to inner-city youth as well as coaching them in baseball to learn real life skills. It's a three week training, which is really intense, but I am learning so much about kids. I've been doing some really serious workshops about how to be an effective sports coach (watch out Troy and Carey!) and how to reach kids in a real, effective manner. Everything so far is going well and I can't wait to update y'all about my summer again soon!

OC VB summer check in from Rosie!

Hellooo Yeowomen! I hope your summer’s are off to a fantastic start! Mine is, and I still have a lot to look forward to (i.e. camp, i.e. where my heart lives).

For me, this week is one of tying up loose ends and making last-minute visits with friends before I go off to be a camp counselor all summer. I’m still un-packing from college because that enterprise was interrupted two weeks ago by a (fantastic) camping trip to the beach at Cape Henlopen in Delaware. Simultaneously, I’m packing up for camp. Needless to say, my room is a mess. I wasn’t able to make any progress there last week because Daniel, my boyfriend who goes to Oberlin, visited then and we were busy making bagels, playing Ultimate Frisbee, visiting friends, making jam, watching the NBA finals, exercising on the stationary bikes in my basement, selling strawberry shortcake at my (Quaker) Meeting House’s annual Strawberry Festival and eating pizza with my brother and parents (see picture). Daniel left this Monday for Hong Kong, where his family lives, and my life resumed a more relaxed (boring?) pace of packing and cleaning.

I have done some fun things this week, though. I made a compost pile for my house, which I have wanted to do for some time now. I also made vegan carrot cake with my friend (delicious; just ask if you want the recipe to any of these foods!), visited my high school art teacher, saw a really great movie about street art (“Exit Through the Gift Shop”), worked out, read, made postcards and…watched more NBA finals (go Celtics?). Plus, now I’m pretty much packed for camp!

This weekend, my parents, brother and I are visiting my grandparents in NJ for my brother and dad’s birthdays. It’ll be a great celebration then I’m off to camp the very next day for canoe instructor training (!!) before actual camp starts. I can’t wait.

Happy Summer y’all!

OC Volleyball welcomes Kristen Johnson

OC Volleyball is excited to announce Kristen Johnson to our 2010 roster. Kristen comes to us from Decatur, Georgia. Kristen is a 5'10 Middle Blocker. Kristen also plays club ball as well for Cyclone Volleyball Club. Along with playing volleyball Kristen is also a member of the tennis team and is very involved in her school. She sent us an update on how her senior year is wrapping up."Our drama club just finished its production of a vampire spoof that was hilarious. I was a stage manager and lighting designer/operator for the show. It got to be pretty stressful, especially a few days before opening night when it seemed like nothing was coming together. We were spending long hours in rehearsals, which severely deprived me of sleep and sanity. But it seems like it all came together, and it ended up being a success. Its funny how thing all seem to fall into place in the end…And to be honest, I’m a little bit sad that its over now.

Prom was typical of any high school dance. I mean, there was a whole lot of hype surrounding it, but it turned out to be only marginally fun. My friends and I still made the best of it though. It was a lot of fun getting ready and dressing up. And after prom, we all went back to my house and hung out. So it still turned out to be a really fun night.

I graduate in ONE WEEK, and I couldn’t be more excited. Classes pretty much ended for me on April 30th because exams started the next week. Those have been pretty stressful. I’ve finished all of my history and English exams. The only ones I have left now are three biology exams and one math one, and then I should be completely finished. So I hope that this next week will fly by, because I am SOOO ready to graduate.


Highlights of my high school career….well, I was captain of the team this year. I led the team in both blocks and kills, and ranked in to county’s top fifty for blocks and kills as well. Last season my team placed first in our region, qualifying us for the state tournament . In state, we made it to the second round before losing a tough match that went to 5 games. And that’s pretty much it."

"OC volleyball is excited to work with Kristen and have such a well-rounded athlete come to our family. Kristen will step right in and make an impact with our team. She brings a very upbeat attitude to the program along with a great work ethic. We are looking forward to challenging and pushing Kristen to the next level as a volleyball player," Said Head Coach Carey Cavanaugh.

Maggie gives update from France

French Volleyball

Halfway through the semester, I joined my Sciences Po’s volleyball team. We practiced only once a week and played in tournaments when it seemed to work around our schedules, making the ambiance quite difference from any American volleyball team. Though the atmosphere was more social than competitive, playing for Sciences Po was a great way for me to make friends and memories! Because my school has a lot of international students, half of my team was French and the other half German. Communicating on the court was interesting, not only are volleyball systems and styles different across countries (and continents), but communicating in a foreign language when a game was close was an added challenge! You don't exactly learn volleyball vocabulary in French class. However, volleyball is still volleyball no matter what language or country it’s in.

One of my favorite tournaments we played in was an all-sport competition between all of France’s Political Science Schools in Strasbourg, France. The rivalries were intense (I don’t think I’ve ever been heckled so intensely!), but after the games all of the fans and players were joking around and laughing with each other. And of course winning the volleyball championship was awesome!

--Maggie

OC Volleyball welcomes Meredith Siefert

OC Volleyball program is excited to announce Meredith Siefert to our 2010 roster. Meredith comes to us from Rye, New York. Meredith is a 5’10 MB/RS hitter and has been playing volleyball since seventh grade. Along with high school experience Meredith has club experience playing this past season for Alpha Gamma Volleyball Club 18’s. Meredith has also excelled in track in field, breaking the school record for discus her freshman year. Meredith is coming into Oberlin with a great work ethic and a desire to succeed that will put her right into the mix with our athletes.

Meredith is very dedicated off the court as well. She has a special passion for the Spanish language and culture. She has had the opportunity to spend time in Roatan, Honduras with her church helping out schools and building a hospital. This has helped developed Meredith into the well-rounded person and volleyball player she has become. She has also won awards in Spanish honors class, math class, and one for a literary magazine. In her free time Meredith enjoys reading and has taken an interest in Italian so she started an Italian club at her school. She is looking forward to pursuing a degree in communications or anthropology.

"The OC Volleyball program is thrilled to have such a great student-athlete and person join our family. Meredith will make an immediate impact in the program because of her athletic ability and positive energy. We are excited to have the opportunity to challenge her daily and see her excel at the collegiate level," said Head Coach Carey Cavanaugh.

Update from Maggie in France

Hello again from Paris! I just finished up with my midterms week which involved 15 mintue long oral presenations and a 3 hour long saturday morning exam. I'm glad that's over. Today I'm going to talk about English. Strange, I know, I'm in France, but the American influence is everywhere. For me, it's not strange to walk into a store and hear songs in English on the radio. I hear everything from Whitney Houston to Akon. Also, American movies are really popular. They are either dubbed over into French or subtitled with the original English sound still playing. (My French friends think it's way cooler to see the versions with the original voices). Because English has become the international language and is also the working language of the European Union, a lot of French people are very eager to brush up in their English. In fact, at my school to get a diploma, you have to pass an English language exam! One of my favorite activities involving English is teaching a group of seven eight year olds English as part of an after school program. Of course they only know simple things like colors or food, but hearing duck, duck goose with French accents is quite an amusing experience.

Eric Stark, former assistant of three years, has accepted a job as the top assistant at Eastern Michigan. Eric was not only my assistant but also a dear friend. He brightened up the office and was a hard worker. I'll miss playing starky and ping pong but I'm sure he won't miss losing:) Eric left big shoes to be filled, who can I play one on one in the office with now?? But on a serious note, I want to thank him for everything he has contributed to this program over the last few years. I know he will do well in the next step of his career. Good luck Eric we miss you already!

Update from France!!!

Just like Oberlin, after a few weeks of classes, the assignments start coming. The past week I've been in the library researching for papers and presentations. No matter how hard I try, I can't find a twist to make studying sound more exotic. I've been working mostly for one of my classes on the European Union, which is a topic full of controversy. At the beginning of the year, huge changes were made in the organization and more big decisions loom concerning the possible bailout of Greece. The controversy makes the EU an exciting topic to study and because my school has a lot of international students I get to hear all sorts of opinions and perspectives. However, the construction of the EU is so complicated it makes United States government seem like a piece of cake!

For those of you who suddenly have the image of studying abroad consisting of living in the library, don't worry, I get plenty of time to explore the city. One thing I love about Paris is the rich history and culture that can be found in both the museums and casual strolls down the winding streets. Example: Last week while out running, I passed the house where René Descartes lived, the house where Marie and Pierre Curie lived, and stumbled upon a 2,000 year old Roman Gladiatorial arena which was being used as a make shift soccer field for a game of neighborhood pick-up.

Now back to paper writing...
--Maggie

Semester Abroad

One of the most popular questions we get is, "Will I be able to study abroad?" In response we have always said that we support any athlete who chooses to study abroad as it is a great opportunity. Junior middle blocker Maggie Jacobson is actually spending the entire spring semester in France and has volunteered to write excerpts about her experiences. Maggie wrote us this when she got to Paris.


For winter term this year I do not have a project because I have the wonderful opportunity to study in Paris for the semester and my exchange program started in the middle of winter term. One of the great opportunities with Oberlin is that they really encourage you to study abroad and have lots of exchange programs available. As a double major in Economics and French, I wanted a program in France where I could take economics and business-type classes in French. Fortunately, Oberlin does direct exchanges with Sciences Po, one of France's top Social Science universities, which has just what I was looking for! On top of that, because several students come to Oberlin each year from Sciences Po, I have plenty of friends who have been helping me adjust to the french life!

Hope all is well,
Maggie

Next up is Lizzie Orfaly.

Hola a todos!
I´m spending my Winter Term this year in Guadalajara, Mexico on a Oberlin-sponsored trip. I´m here with 20 other Obies for the month, taking classes at an institute (5 hours everyday!) and exploring the city. I´ve tried a bunch of popular local foods and drinks, and they´ve all been delicious. I´m living with a family near the school and I take the bus by myself everyday. My family is absolutely wonderful: I have a 3 year old brother Mario, who I play with all the time and a 13 and 20 year old sisters Diana and Pati. The parents are so friendly and helpful to the point that I really feel like I´m a part of the family. Although we haven´t had many language barriers, they are really patient with me if I don´t understand something.Also, I´m turning 20 while I´m here, and I´m excited to go out with friends and celebrate. We´ve traveled to Tlaquepaque (my new favorite word), Zopopan and soon we´re going to Ajijic, Tonala, and Chapala. Next weekend we have a weekend off to get hotel rooms at either Puerto Vallarta or Manzanilla. I´ve visited a bunch of museums and met a lot of interesting people. The culture here is so different, but everyone is so welcoming to our differences. I´m having a wonderful time, and honestly don´t want to leave anytime soon! I´d recommend this trip to anyone who wants to learn or better their Spanish and meet new, amazing people!
--Lizzie # 11

More Winter Term

Next is Chinwe Okona from Florida.

One of my favorite books is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. The thing
I missed out most on in high school is reading for leisure, something
I really enjoyed when I was younger, because I just didn't have the
time. It turns out that Toni Morrison was born and raised in Lorain,
OH, just down the road from Oberlin. For winter term, I decided to try
and read all nine of Morrison's novels and blog about each one. I
aspire to be a neuroscience major, and feel that I won't have the
opportunity to take some of the literature classes that interest me at
Oberlin. With this project, I am able to read some books that I have
always hoped to read, as well as analyze them on my own terms. Check
out my blog for more insight on each of the novels:

http://chinweokona.blogspot.com

Chinwe

Winter Term #3

Laura Jessee a middle hitter from Virginia has today's installment.


For my winter term I am backpacking in Arizona with my friend Anna Hughes. We are visiting sights such as the Grand Canyon and Oak Creek Canyon. We are camping and living out of our backpacks. For credit we keep nature journals to record our surroundings and we identify at least one new species a day. Today we hiked to a waterfall and climbed/bouldered. My journal focuses on the differences between the Appalachian Mountains where I grew up and the mountains here in Arizona. We are working on our observational skills along with our survival skills!

Winter Term

Our second posting comes from Liz Wong our sophomore setter

This winter term I decided to take on the adventure of baking. I did not want to just bake anything but I wanted to bake cakes! I love watching those cake shows on food network (admit it, you do too), so I decided to attempt to do it myself. My first cake was a birthday cake theme. I made a two tier square cake and decorated it to look like presents stacked upon each other. It came out really well for my first try. I made it just in time for my Grandma's birthday. For my next cake, I thought I'd give fondant and gum paste a go. Let's just say gum paste should be left to the professionals. I missed a direction on the gum paste box and couldn't move my fingers for fifteen minutes. In fact, my hands and fingers would still be stuck together if Amanda had not come to save the day. Fondant is not an easy thing to work with either. Those professionals make it look like, well, cake! My second cake was a 'thank you' cake for the physical therapist office that has helped me recover from my ACL injury. The finished product looked great but the process was messy. Powdered sugar, eggshells, and various other baking goods were all over the counters and floors. I failed multiple times before my fondant came out nice and smooth. By my third cake I was done, making rookie mistakes, such as forgetting to frost my cake before putting the fondant on (according to common sense the fondant needs something to stick to…according to me, it doesn’t). Anyway, winter term has been messy, fun, and semi-relaxing. I have realized that baking cakes and decorating them are certainly not as easy as Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss make it look. I will definitely be leaving it to the professionals, mostly because my mom has banned me from the kitchen haha.

J-Term at Oberlin

The cool thing about being a student at Oberlin is you get the entire month of January off to do anything you want and you can usually get the school to fund it! Over the next couple weeks we are going to put up some of the fun things the OCVB team is doing. First, is Rosie Eck a first year student from Maryland. Rosie writes:
For winter term, I am in Sarasota, Florida, trying some new things. I am interning at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium with the graphic design department and staying with some friends from camp in their cooperative house of 8 housemates. Though the weather has lately been an un-Floridian 30 to 40 degrees, I have been loving exploring and experiencing the novelties of a very interesting place. On my 45-minute bike ride to and from work, I enjoy observing the beautiful Sarasota Bay and accompanying pelicans as well as the swanky shops of St. Armand's key compared to the poorer but infinitely more colorful neighborhoods nearer to my house. At work, I have been adjusting photos in various ways, helping design a poster, digitizing raw video film and updating the website. On my first day, I got to snap some pictures of a leatherback sea turtle that had just been brought to Mote's sea turtle hospital and rehabilitation center, which was a dream. It's such a huge, smooth, incredible creature. On the weekends, I have adventured to such places as the Bargain Barn, where the thrift store cast-offs go to be sold by the pound. Wait till you see my new cowboy boots. I have also been enjoying diverse musical experiences from the church down the street's low-key musical worship to a student punk rock concert packed into a space the size of a living room to the folksy banjo-ing of one of my housemates that I can hear right now. Hopefully, the weather will warm up soon, but regardless of the temperature, I'll keep picking the grapefruits regularly right off the tree.