Sophia Chen ’12

I'm Sophia, a senior physics major from Athens, Ohio, located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, where hippies and coal miners live in conjunction. Athens is home to Ohio University, so I'm no stranger to the liberal bubble college town.

I came to Oberlin because I was too many types of nerd — I was curious about the sciences, humanities, and the arts — and I didn't want to give up any of them. I arrived at Oberlin geared toward the creative writing major, but I found myself choosing physics and math classes over humanities classes. In addition to the problem sets, labs, and lectures, I am currently conducting an honors project in atomic spectroscopy with Professor Jason Stalnaker, and I did astrophysics research on-and-off for three years with Professor Chris Martin, who studies the formation of stars at the center of the Milky Way.

I’m also a veteran of many student groups on campus. For all four years at Oberlin, I've been an active member of the Chinese Student Association (CSA), of which I was the co-chair two years ago. I wrote for the Oberlin Review for two semesters as a columnist, reporter, and section editor. As a pianist here, I've also taken both classical and jazz secondary lessons, and I've been known to do Bob Dylan piano covers in Warner Concert Hall. I’m also currently taking jazz guitar lessons for the first time. My newest venture is a cover band with my housemate, Chloë, called the Clever Brothers, and we play the guitar and sometimes the cello and sometimes the spoons while one of us sings in the style of Creed. We’re a party band whom no one has ever asked to play at a party.

For more detailed information and witty banter, click here.

Welcome.