All Roads from Oberlin
by Julian Worth, Maddie Henke, and Patty Stubel
Welcome to All Roads from Oberlin! A podcast where we talk to Oberlin alums about life after college, finding work in a recession, and just how to be okay.
Podcast episodes
Season 1
Episode 8: What Should I Do? Get a Tattoo.
A panel episode! Maddie asks human resources careerpeople and Oberlin alums Jackie Hilton and Sarah Dunn questions from real life 2020 Oberlin grads. Wondering when you’re going to have to give up on your dreams? Big question! We answer it! We talk traveling, recovering from this recession, the shortcomings of accepted wisdom, setting boundaries with parents, life as a project plan, carving out space to learn TikTok dances, and generations of best friends in Mickey Mouse ears. We also design your next tattoo.
Episode 7: Roadblocks: Where COVID Hit Hard
Patty interviews Oberlin Alums Alex Paik (runs marketing agency specializing in travel and hospitality) and Topher Soltys (manager of the Public Theater in NYC), who discuss their careers in the travel and theatre industries, finding home, being useless for a bit, the American connotations of quicksand, and crying on trampolines. Don’t go to the University of Chicago. Do go to Circus School.
Episode 6: Designing your Life with Dr. Nina
Nina Zhou, ‘08 Oberlin Conservatory grad, tells Patty her story: from finishing up her doctorate in piano performance at Indiana University to pivoting towards development and advancement work in the classical music world. She touches on defining success, fundraising, “analysis paralysis,” transferable skills, the prospect of changing platforms for your art in the midst of COVID, and joy-bringing tomatoes.
Episode 5: Advice from Shawn(’s Mom)
Shawn Roggenkamp, ’08 Obie alum and art historian, tells Maddie her story: transitioning from theater kid to art historian, moving to New York on a whim, grad school in the U.K., and finding a career at Christie’s. We talk networking, the worst job she ever had in a very fancy apartment, never having to give up the arts, and why majors don’t always matter.
Episode 4: Olivia’s Work-Life Seeping
Olivia Winter, ’08 Obie alum, tells Maddie her story: from leaving grad school and neuroscience, to entering the tech world, to now — returning to grad school to become a therapist. We discuss her unexpected spiritual shift, making space for happy feelings, the lonely challenges of creating community post-grad, and her future vegan farmstead.