When we lived in the same building during our first year at Oberlin, a friend and I developed an odd, only semi-spoken rule. We would purposefully leave at different times for a mutual destination. I remember more than once noticing her backpack ahead and deliberately slowing my pace to allow her solitude. It wasn’t that we didn’t enjoy each other’s conversation; we just shared the pleasure of walking alone.
It follows that when I picture Oberlin, I don’t think of my dorm room or a favorite study haunt or even the best parties I’ve been to — I see Tappan Square. Most of the pieces of my life, and the lives of other students, faculty, staff, and residents, seem to be arrayed around this stretch of lawn ...
