Winter term is a time for Oberlin students to explore, grow, and learn. It is a four-week period where one is encouraged to discover the value of self-education.
As first-year swimmers, Sarah Dalgleish and teammate Devyn Malouf decided to give back to the local community by working at Oberlin Community Services (OCS) as Food Service Fellows.
In addition to working 15 hours a week in a variety of roles, the program also included a course about systems of oppression in the United States. Dalgleish and Malouf were two of nine Oberlin students in the course.
“I learned so much about how food pantries fit into the broader problems of food scarcity and food inequality in the United States,” Dalgleish said. “It was really eye-opening to get the hands-on day-to-day experience of working at OCS while also getting a broader perspective on how oppression exists in the country on many different levels.”
While much has been written about income inequality in America, the gap is also widening at the dinner table for many Americans as there is a high correlation to one another. This national problem is not one that escapes the Oberlin community.
With one of the main missions of OCS being to provide food for those in need, the Oberlin swimmers were working toward being a part of the solution.
“Studies show kids who don’t get proper nutrition or don’t eat three meals a day perform worse in the classroom than their peers who do, both academically and behaviorally,” Dalgleish said. “A lot of kids in Oberlin rely on free and reduced lunch at school for access to these meals and don’t have enough food over the weekend. We worked with an initiative called the Backpack Program that sends kids home with food for the weekend so they can continue getting enough to eat.”
It is often said when a person gives back, it is indeed that person who truly gains the most. In the case of Dalgleish it was no different. During her time with OCS, she was able to develop many lasting relationships with those she was helping and those who were serving alongside her.
Dalgleish, who is majoring in English, also works as a reporter for Oberlin’s student-run radio station, WOBC. She has a passion for podcasts and audio journalism, which was a topic she and her peers were able to bond over.
“You would start to see the same people coming into OCS at the same time every week, so it was really fun to anticipate who will be there on a certain day and to start forming relationships with them. I got to know several people at OCS who are involved with WOBC and also loved radio. It was really cool to make connections with people through one community organization to another.”
When she isn’t in class, on the radio, or helping others at OCS, odds are you can find Dalgleish in the pool honing her craft as a freestyle mid-distance swimmer. In just one and a half seasons, she has been a part of five all-time top-10 swims in varying relay events and has clocked in the team’s fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle this season.
“Swimming is one of my passions, and being able to continue swimming in college has been such a good experience,” she said. “Oberlin ended up being the perfect fit for me because I can swim collegiately and also have the opportunity to engage in activities such as volunteering at OCS and doing other types of community outreach. It’s really nice to have the team, because we’re tight-knit and my teammates are some of my best friends, but because Oberlin is such an active, engaged place, I also have the ability to branch outside the team to other people and groups. Ultimately, swimming is not only something I love doing, but it also helps keeps me balanced, mentally healthy, and on track academically.”
Head Swimming and Diving Coach Andrew Brabson has high praise for his sophomore standout who has taken on a leadership role within the team. “Sarah embodies what it means to be a student-athlete at Oberlin,” he noted. “She earned a 4.0 GPA in the fall semester and is someone I can count on to lead by example through her hard work both in the pool and the classroom.”
In just three semesters on campus, Dalgleish has made the most of her Oberlin experience, but it is something she doesn’t take for granted.
“I know that I am incredibly lucky to be able to go to college at all, and especially lucky to attend school like Oberlin,” she said. “I see it as my responsibility to use my education to help people in whatever way I can, and I think a lot of people at Oberlin share this mindset. My desire to serve comes from this sense of responsibility to use my education for as much good as possible.”
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