Oberlin Blogs

Griff Radulski ’14

Hi, I'm Griff Radulski, and I've started to preface every discussion of myself with, "I want to be a farmer and," which is a surprisingly versatile introduction. I follow it with: learning [ungulate anatomy, nutrient cycling, marketing skills] is probably relevant to my future. Or: ... I own two dozen laying hens and sell their eggs and the cheese I make to my friends in Oberlin. Or: a bachelor of arts in biology isn't the most practical degree I could pursue, but I'm too in love with Oberlin to leave.

Not that I won't ever leave. When I graduate this spring, I'm moving on to learn about draft horse driving and husbandry, and then who knows: Pennsylvania, or Virginia, or back to my homeland of coastal Connecticut, with its sunny, mild winters and its estuary views. But for now, I'm a true, proud Obie. Like most of us, I get way too busy as I struggle to balance schoolwork, life work, and fighting the good fight. I think I've found a patch of middle ground this semester, although I still stray: between drafting a lab report or plans for a new chicken coop, studying dogfish structure or feed protein ratios, researching carbon sequestration or the best way to soften homemade ice cream. I never have to wonder whether to wander with a friend, though. One thing I've learned: friends come first.

I'm an OSCAn expat (I live in a house now) and a member of the Ecumenical Christians of Oberlin, as well as a groundskeeper for the Department of Environmental Studies. I also attend every contra dance, contact improv jam, and ASL table. If you have questions about any of these things — or thoughts on chickens, or farming, or nutrient cycles, or land ownership and privilege, or cheesemaking, or the vast and impossible diversity of life — you should contact me!

Entries from this blogger

Family

September 29, 2012

My summer left me wanting a word that spans millennia. I need to talk about my brothers and sisters who populate the biosphere, who live lives beyond human knowing and become sediment when they die.

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Cardboard Box Season

August 5, 2012

I've been thinking a lot about seasons lately. My own year is really just beginning, as my time in Connecticut draws to a close and I prepare to move back to Ohio. It begins with a twice-annual ritual: packing cardboard boxes.

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A Chickenkeeper Abroad: At Home as a Foreigner

April 19, 2012

I'm leaving Oberlin for a semester, if not a year, and it's got me thinking again about what it means to be home. Over Winter Term I found a home in Monteverde, temporary, but a home nonetheless; and before I get all maudlin about leaving Oberlin, I wanted to share some snapshots of a beautiful month.

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Person First

October 27, 2011

Sometimes I feel cloistered here - safe and spiritually grounded, but disengaged from the problems of the world. How to fit the real world into Oberlin? Well, for starters ...

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Arrival Take Two

September 15, 2011

Orientating as a second-year, including pizza socials and all the classes. Well, all of mine, anyway. Apply to write about yours yourself!

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Winter Term: A Project a Day

January 24, 2011

The idea is simple. I have to make one thing every day - anything from a wolf hat with headphones sewn into the brim to the slightly ambiguous "important arrangements."

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