Travis O’Daniel joined the Review in the fall of 2023 as a production editor, then stepped into the conservatory editor position, before serving as managing editor of the Review for the past two years. O’Daniel is a vibrant performer in addition to a reporter. He’ll be graduating with a degree in Communications, but he started his time at Oberlin as a Vocal Performance major, and he has continued his work as a drag artist throughout his time here. He worked for the College Office of Communications this year, collaborating closely with President Carmen Twillie Ambar on her podcast Running to the Noise. Last summer, he was an intern for HarperCollins Publishers. After Oberlin, he plans to pursue a career in Public Relations and Crisis Management.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why did you join the Review and what’s kept you here?

I initially joined because I knew I enjoyed editing papers. At the time, I was looking for alternative career paths to opera. I wrote an article for the Review about my experience leaving the Conservatory, and I said that I had found something to run to instead of running away from voice. That has been what’s kept me here.

Of course, I love the people and the environment is so fun — the office is one of my favorite places on campus to be — but I also love the Review for its professionalism. It has been such a great place to grow as a career-driven adult as I start to step into the real world.

What has it been like to work on Running to the Noise?

I love working on Running to the Noise. It’s a really special experience to work with President Ambar one-on-one. It’s been a relationship I really value. Also, getting to work in the communications office has been so insightful. Seeing how things are really run in a professional academic university setting is so eye-opening. I’m hoping to continue a career in public relations and crisis management because of the work I’ve done alongside Director of Media Relations Andrea Simakis, who is just the best, and Annie Zaleski, who runs the alumni magazine — two of the most amazing employees on Oberlin’s campus. It’s also been a great way to meet and interview alumni. It’s amazing to network and hear all these awesome stories coming out of Oberlin.

What was the process of dropping your Conservatory degree like?

In order to transfer from the Conservatory to the College, you have to have all these requirements and be accepted into the College again. So I stopped taking Conservatory classes in the second semester of my sophomore year and just took College classes to meet some of the requirements, and I loved it. I, of course, have so much respect still for all of the people in the Conservatory. Opera is still one of my favorite art forms. I love to write about them; I love to see them. It was just a very rigorous environment for me. I realized that learning three hours of Italian or French or whatever language for shows for the rest of my life is maybe not something I wanted to do. Also, what I think a lot of people don’t realize is that it’s a very hard career path to live in. You’re always traveling; it’s very hard to settle down when you’re working contract-to-contract. So I started pursuing other careers in journalism and communications, and I haven’t looked back. I love it so much, and I hope that one day I’m professionally reporting on my peers in the Voice program doing awesome things.

How has Oberlin succeeded and how has it failed to set you up for life post-graduation?

In a lot of ways, I don’t think Oberlin has failed me, because I really took full advantage of my Oberlin experience. I took a lot of great jobs, and I networked as much as I possibly could.
That’s how I think I got my job at HarperCollins, through all of the top-tier experience that I had at Oberlin, working with President Ambar and with the Review, which is a very notable student publication nationally.

My one word of advice for students who aren’t graduating yet is to be proactive about seeking out connections. Don’t be afraid to send an email or shoot opportunities around. Every alumni that I have spoken to on President Ambar’s podcast at some point has been like, ‘Do not be afraid to reach out to me,’ and I think that the same applies to professors and faculty. Everyone here is willing to help you and listen to you. If you take advantage of that, the world will be your oyster.

Best drag performance?

I have a definite answer for this one. My freshman year, drag ball was held in Hales Gymnasium, and it was a huge space. They had a big catwalk set up and all these lights. It was so incredible. I did a performance of “Let’s have a Kiki/Turkey Lurkey Time,” the Glee arrangement, and there was this whole monologue with Sarah Jessica Parker. I had this outfit with tassels and these prosthetic breasts. I made about 40 bucks that night just from tips. People loved it. I love making people smile in that way. 

Friday at 6:30 p.m., I had my one-woman drag cabaret at the Cat in the Cream called Falling in Love With Love. It’s about my philosophies on love as a lifetime hopeless romantic. I read from my diary and talked about love lost, and it was a great time.

Favorite Review memory?

My second year, I was in Cabaret, and I did some pretty extreme makeup for that show. After I got done with rehearsal, I would go right to the Review to keep editing stuff, and so there were so many nights when I would pull up to the Review in basically full clown makeup and sit there until 1 a.m. still decked out.

But really, my favorite memories of the Review are just with all of the people there. There are so many inside jokes and fond memories I have in that office because I’m working there 20 hours a week. There are too many to count.