John Green '00 makes an alma mater pilgrimage back to Kenyon College and relives the memories and musings of life on The Hill. / vlogbrothers | www.kenyon.edu
I can't believe he graduated in 2000. In twelve short years, John Green has gotten married, had a son, started a project with his brother that changed so many lives, helped so many of us through his writing, and now is number one in Times Magazine's best books of the year. What can any of us say we've done with our lives in the past twelve years?
I run the Creative Writing Club at a high school in the midwest, and I just scheduled this message to go out to my kids in their last week of school: For our seniors specifically (though anyone can appreciate this). In this video, author John Green revisits his college campus and regails us with the wonder of his nostalgia. If you were to walk the halls of Glenbard South years from now, what parts would you want to visit? What people would you think of? What stories could you tell? Feel free to park yourself in front of a journal, Notes app on your phone, or a dirty Oberweis napkin and jot your thoughts; then, save your writing someplace special and revisit it later in life. See what you remember from your time here. Thank you for the inspiration!
Wow. I'm a current Kenyon freshman, and it's amazing how little has changed in ten years. Just an hour ago I had a class in Ascension, and I probably sat in the same seat John Green sat 23 years before. Absolutely insane thought.
When I was in high school (and a year or two afterwards) I went to Kenyon College every summer for church camp. It took me a year or two to realize how special the place was, how the dorms and classrooms were. I remember walking down the middle path, heading to the Middle Ground Cafe (just past that post John talks about) or the cafeteria. What I remember most of all was the idea that a college should feel like Kenyon did. I ended up going to a bigger, more modern school in Indiana - a mistake
I go to Lorain County Community College, a getting larger by the semester community college, there's a lot of jokes cracked about the school, but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I feel like a college stays with you, not like high school or elementary. We grow and learn so much in a college. We see all types of people and beliefs and we truly begin to create our vision of the world. I think we hold our colleges close to our heart.
I'm graduating from Kenyon in 5 months, so this was very much right in the feels here. But in kind of a good way. Except when I think that, as absolutely spectacular as Autumn in Gambier is, I've seen my last one as a student. Then I get horrified again. Also, I'd like to point out that downtown Gambier has a restaurant, a grocery store, a bookstore -and- a coffee shop. As we all know, caffeine is almost as necessary as books and food, given its ability to enable you to go on reading books.
After watching this episode, I think there should be an entire episode for small colleges that no one knows about but students should go to because of the interesting things that make them awesome.
I am limited by grade and funds when choosing my university but i still hope that my future self will look back at my time in university as fondly as you do .
This video got me nostalgic for my own small liberal arts college, and I graduated only last June and still visit the area. There's something unique about going to a small college and having professors that turn into mentors for life. Those people changed me and I don't think change comes easily in anyone. It's nice to know that, from John Green's own experiences, I may someday 10 years from now look back at my college experience with fondness, nostalgia and still owing many people a great debt.
I would love to be a person who can look back to my college after a graduate and think, "I'm a success story that the teachers can tell and the students can learn from." I want to represent the teachers that help and will help me by succeeding and letting them know they did a good job with me.
If only my seventh grade English teacher knew as eloquently as your professor how much I owe her, John. I wish all my writing influences did, but I guess it has to start with you. Thank you for being a dramatic influence on my writing, and letting me have several books that push me to be a stronger writer.
I went to Kenyon to summer camp in the early 90s. It was so weird, but awesome, to see it again all these years later. Ascension Hall was where we had our daily group meetings, we roomed in the Dorms. I walked Middle Path, I touched the post ;) I purchased things in the bookstore. Awesome. Thanks, John, for letting me revisit it with you.
HE TOUCHED THE POLE! Nobody touches the pole (dubbed the Gates of Hell, at least as of 2003). It's amazing how quickly traditions can change. Also, I really need to go visit Gambier. Five years away and the nostalgia this video evokes is kind of overwhelming.
While I ended up not attending Kenyon, I was inspired by John to visit and apply there. It's a beautiful place, and everyone seemed really nice. It ended up being too far away for me though.
When he zoomed in on that quote I got so excited (because that book and quote are perfect!) that I squeezed the chocolate milk juice box thing I was holding so much that it spilled all over my laptop and bed..
I'm studying creative writing at a different college, that shall be unnamed because I'm really not enjoying myself, but Kenyon sound amazing, even if it is all the way in Ohio. I'm looking into the possibility of transferring and I think I'll look into this, because the way this man feels about his college is the way someone should feel about where they're going to school. And that isn't how I feel about where I am now. Thank you Kenyon for opening my eyes.
"Kenyon is the best one" i actually laughed out load when he said that, not because i don't think it's a good college, but I love when people slip in little indisputable comments at the end of videos.
That is a good quote. Well done. I actually read that, went to another page and thought I should come back and let you know that was a good quote. Well done my friend.
I love seeing all these places and hearing all these stories that spawned John's books. There are so little books that you get to know the origin of. John, you have the exact opposite personality of Peter van Houten, and I'm glad.
im from ohio..i would have loved to gone to college there. it looked so peaceful. i bet it is even when school is in session. thanks for sharing this...
If you're Canadian - the closest you can get to a Kenyon experience is Glendon College at York University! Liberal, bilingual, small classes, gorgeous campus - all you could hope for. The English department is amazing.
I say it every time, but I love Thoughts From Places videos. It is truly amazing all you have accomplished in the 12 years since you graduated from college. I work in a bookstore in a small town and can tell you for certain, that you are an inspiration to young people everywhere. I can always spot a fellow nerdfighter when they visit, and it's wonderful to immediately have a connection with a complete stranger through your books. Thanks for all you do, you are awesome! ;-)
I had a very similar experience at my Alma Mater, Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA. I'm grateful for my time there, and the relationships I made with both students and professors.
God! that place feels special for me, that church is so personal, and that religion teacher, it made me emotional how some places that I've never been to can be so important for me just because of your books. Thank you.
Quick note to anyone thinking of visiting Kenyon: It has apparently become a rite of passage in some circles to pee on the Middle Path post when drunk. For your own sake, please do not touch it.
That was really awesome. I personally hate college but that might be because I go to a University with no soul, no history, and the second largest campus in the nation. I always see college campuses that have been been around for over a hundred years and I think it's awesome and crazy because my college is only 50 or so years old. John is quite lucky and we are lucky that he's let us be part of his life. DFTBA!
Your thoughts from places videos take me back to that quiet awed feeling that I previously had reserved only for sleepily listening to my parents read to me as a child.
His voice when he mentioned his own books being sold at the Kenyon bookstore :3 John I love it when good things happen to you. It makes me insanely happy.
This video makes me so happy! I'm graduating from college in less than two weeks (Ball State University) and I can already sense that my education and the people I've met as a result of it will have a tremendous impact on my future. Thanks for posting this!
I was just accepted ED to Kenyon and I am so so so excited to be going there and I remember watching the video six months ago when I was thinking about applying
This is how I feel about my school, Earlham College. This isn't the first time I've realized, but definitely the most conscious realization, how lucky I am not only to go to the perfect place for me but to know how amazing it is while I'm there.
I really want to use that in something I'm writing now. "Downtown contains a grocery store, a restaurant, and a bookstore, but to be fair, books and food can take you a long way"
When he recorded himself and Henry holding hands and walking down the hill, I could only think about the day when his footsteps will match his fathers, and how when Henry will grow older, and so will us all..
I once had a sweatshirt, one of my favorites, wore it until it was just shreds, that said KENYON on it- and I often wondered where and what that college was like. So awesome to think that 20-30 years later, my favorite RUclips blogger went there to school....good job,John!
John, You have such a beautifully romantic college history. As my journey is college is ending soon, I hope to make my own; just as beautiful as yours.
I have to admit I still harbor some ill will for being waitlisted by Kenyon my first time around applying to college, but the campus is super pretty. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one totally in love with my alma mater (*cough*Cornell Big Red!*cough*) and that we're allowed to be nerdy about our old classrooms.
Beautiful, John! I applied to Kenyon and got in, but for several reasons I chose Lipscomb instead. I loved Kenyon when I visited, though, and I still remember receiving my "owl." I think I still have that bookmark! From what I can tell, a lot of my college experience depends on what I put into it. I prefer small schools (obviously), but you can still pursue an excellent education at an enormous university. I love Lipscomb and am extremely satisfied with my decision.
This is very surreal for me. For two years I went to a Teen Institute Conference held at Kenyon College. I spent most of the time with my group in Ascension Hall. We had our own classes in the classrooms John had his, and I stayed in the same dorm building John did. It's so weird to see these sights through John's eyes. If I had only known about Vlogbrothers at the time, I can't imagine how awesome it would have been to have the opportunity to know I was sitting where John might have once.
While I was watching this video I thought "Well that settles the debate of where I will be spending my freshman year of college!" Then I remembered that I want to be a surgeon. I am currently deciding whether or not to change my life goals to revolve aroung writing and becoming the new John Green.
There was this funny way my heart sunk when John said "... Where I imagined much of the setting for my book TFiOS"... I paused the video on that church and all I could think of was Augustus and Hazel in the final chapters in that novel. I won't spoil it, but by God what a saddeningly beautiful picture my mind just formed.
I would like to see the Heart of Jesus in more detail, please. I just started TFiOS for the first time today... It would be nice to always see it in my mind's eye as it is intended to be seen.
Thanks John for the lovely video --- just what a recent Kenyon grad needed for some lovely Kenyon snippets. I actually miss Middle Path; that's saying a lot, since I actively avoided it during the winter months when it would ice over.
Kenyon has been my first choice school since I heard about it and fell in love last year. I'm currently a freshman and UT right now, because I can't afford to go anywhere else. :PPPP Screw you and your awesome video making me sad about it again.
"And there's no place on God's green earth quieter than a college campus at 8 on a saturday morning."
How I hope that I in ten years will be able to walk down the halls of a college and feel the same as he did here.
"Nostalgia is in the business of twisting memories into lies"
MIND BLOWN!
I can't believe he graduated in 2000. In twelve short years, John Green has gotten married, had a son, started a project with his brother that changed so many lives, helped so many of us through his writing, and now is number one in Times Magazine's best books of the year. What can any of us say we've done with our lives in the past twelve years?
I run the Creative Writing Club at a high school in the midwest, and I just scheduled this message to go out to my kids in their last week of school:
For our seniors specifically (though anyone can appreciate this). In this video, author John Green revisits his college campus and regails us with the wonder of his nostalgia. If you were to walk the halls of Glenbard South years from now, what parts would you want to visit? What people would you think of? What stories could you tell? Feel free to park yourself in front of a journal, Notes app on your phone, or a dirty Oberweis napkin and jot your thoughts; then, save your writing someplace special and revisit it later in life. See what you remember from your time here.
Thank you for the inspiration!
John Green has the ability to make me nostalgic for places I've never been and experiences I've never had.
Kenyon and Gambier will always be one of my homes.
Wow. I'm a current Kenyon freshman, and it's amazing how little has changed in ten years. Just an hour ago I had a class in Ascension, and I probably sat in the same seat John Green sat 23 years before. Absolutely insane thought.
It makes me sad that I haven't made my university experience so enlightening and inspiring as John's apparently was.
This video showed up in my email sent from Kenyon College.
Finally, a college email worth reading. Kenyon knows how to get my attention :D
When I was in high school (and a year or two afterwards) I went to Kenyon College every summer for church camp. It took me a year or two to realize how special the place was, how the dorms and classrooms were. I remember walking down the middle path, heading to the Middle Ground Cafe (just past that post John talks about) or the cafeteria. What I remember most of all was the idea that a college should feel like Kenyon did.
I ended up going to a bigger, more modern school in Indiana - a mistake
Hands down, best promotion video ever.
I go to Lorain County Community College, a getting larger by the semester community college, there's a lot of jokes cracked about the school, but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I feel like a college stays with you, not like high school or elementary. We grow and learn so much in a college. We see all types of people and beliefs and we truly begin to create our vision of the world. I think we hold our colleges close to our heart.
Beauty and love. That is John Green.
'Her kiss was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.' God, that is so beautiful.
I'm graduating from Kenyon in 5 months, so this was very much right in the feels here. But in kind of a good way. Except when I think that, as absolutely spectacular as Autumn in Gambier is, I've seen my last one as a student. Then I get horrified again.
Also, I'd like to point out that downtown Gambier has a restaurant, a grocery store, a bookstore -and- a coffee shop. As we all know, caffeine is almost as necessary as books and food, given its ability to enable you to go on reading books.
Glad that you got to see Don Rogan and I hope he's still doing well! I still owe him one.
"books and food will take you a long way in this life." truth.
Kenyon Loves You Back
After watching this episode, I think there should be an entire episode for small colleges that no one knows about but students should go to because of the interesting things that make them awesome.
I am limited by grade and funds when choosing my university but i still hope that my future self will look back at my time in university as fondly as you do .
This video got me nostalgic for my own small liberal arts college, and I graduated only last June and still visit the area. There's something unique about going to a small college and having professors that turn into mentors for life. Those people changed me and I don't think change comes easily in anyone. It's nice to know that, from John Green's own experiences, I may someday 10 years from now look back at my college experience with fondness, nostalgia and still owing many people a great debt.
I THOUGHT THE SAME EXACT THING. Some things about Kenyon never chance but JOHN JOHN THAT TRADITION IS ONE OF THEM!
My brother now wants to go to Kenyan and study literature and religion . You are an inspiration John Green.
John when and if I meet you I am going to give you the biggest hug!
Love Kenyon, love John Green.
I would love to be a person who can look back to my college after a graduate and think, "I'm a success story that the teachers can tell and the students can learn from." I want to represent the teachers that help and will help me by succeeding and letting them know they did a good job with me.
And brought laughter to hundreds!
If only my seventh grade English teacher knew as eloquently as your professor how much I owe her, John. I wish all my writing influences did, but I guess it has to start with you. Thank you for being a dramatic influence on my writing, and letting me have several books that push me to be a stronger writer.
I went to Kenyon to summer camp in the early 90s. It was so weird, but awesome, to see it again all these years later. Ascension Hall was where we had our daily group meetings, we roomed in the Dorms. I walked Middle Path, I touched the post ;) I purchased things in the bookstore.
Awesome. Thanks, John, for letting me revisit it with you.
“Books and food will take you a long way in life” 😊
HE TOUCHED THE POLE! Nobody touches the pole (dubbed the Gates of Hell, at least as of 2003). It's amazing how quickly traditions can change. Also, I really need to go visit Gambier. Five years away and the nostalgia this video evokes is kind of overwhelming.
While I ended up not attending Kenyon, I was inspired by John to visit and apply there. It's a beautiful place, and everyone seemed really nice. It ended up being too far away for me though.
When he zoomed in on that quote I got so excited (because that book and quote are perfect!) that I squeezed the chocolate milk juice box thing I was holding so much that it spilled all over my laptop and bed..
I WISH I WENT TO KENYON!!! First Allison Janey, then HIMYM's Josh Radnor and now HIM!! the BEST people go to Kenyon!
God I love Kenyon. My sister just graduated from there. He needs to tour there!
My friend Becca was just telling me about how she ran into John at the local supermarket that Friday! I was very jealous.
I'm studying creative writing at a different college, that shall be unnamed because I'm really not enjoying myself, but Kenyon sound amazing, even if it is all the way in Ohio. I'm looking into the possibility of transferring and I think I'll look into this, because the way this man feels about his college is the way someone should feel about where they're going to school. And that isn't how I feel about where I am now. Thank you Kenyon for opening my eyes.
"Kenyon is the best one" i actually laughed out load when he said that, not because i don't think it's a good college, but I love when people slip in little indisputable comments at the end of videos.
That is a good quote. Well done. I actually read that, went to another page and thought I should come back and let you know that was a good quote. Well done my friend.
I love seeing all these places and hearing all these stories that spawned John's books. There are so little books that you get to know the origin of. John, you have the exact opposite personality of Peter van Houten, and I'm glad.
im from ohio..i would have loved to gone to college there. it looked so peaceful. i bet it is even when school is in session. thanks for sharing this...
John Green makes me wish I could go back to university.
Thoughts from places are actually my favorite videos ever.
This was beautiful. Thank you John.
This is why he is such a great vlogger!
If you're Canadian - the closest you can get to a Kenyon experience is Glendon College at York University! Liberal, bilingual, small classes, gorgeous campus - all you could hope for. The English department is amazing.
I say it every time, but I love Thoughts From Places videos. It is truly amazing all you have accomplished in the 12 years since you graduated from college. I work in a bookstore in a small town and can tell you for certain, that you are an inspiration to young people everywhere. I can always spot a fellow nerdfighter when they visit, and it's wonderful to immediately have a connection with a complete stranger through your books. Thanks for all you do, you are awesome! ;-)
Kenyon College looks beautiful!
“In short I know nostalgia is the business of twisting memory into lies”, this quote will follow me for some time.
Kenyon, I may be Canadian (and therefore extremely unlikely to ever come to your school), but you have an absolutely GORGEOUS campus.
Thanks for making John Green for us!
I had a very similar experience at my Alma Mater, Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA. I'm grateful for my time there, and the relationships I made with both students and professors.
God! that place feels special for me, that church is so personal, and that religion teacher, it made me emotional how some places that I've never been to can be so important for me just because of your books. Thank you.
"Nostalgia is the business of twisting memories into lies." Perfection.
Quick note to anyone thinking of visiting Kenyon: It has apparently become a rite of passage in some circles to pee on the Middle Path post when drunk. For your own sake, please do not touch it.
I wasn’t planning on going to Kenyon but if I’m in the area I will be sure to touch the pee pole just because you asked me not to.
That was really awesome. I personally hate college but that might be because I go to a University with no soul, no history, and the second largest campus in the nation. I always see college campuses that have been been around for over a hundred years and I think it's awesome and crazy because my college is only 50 or so years old. John is quite lucky and we are lucky that he's let us be part of his life. DFTBA!
Your thoughts from places videos take me back to that quiet awed feeling that I previously had reserved only for sleepily listening to my parents read to me as a child.
His voice when he mentioned his own books being sold at the Kenyon bookstore :3 John I love it when good things happen to you. It makes me insanely happy.
two videos in one day how lucky are we
This video makes me so happy! I'm graduating from college in less than two weeks (Ball State University) and I can already sense that my education and the people I've met as a result of it will have a tremendous impact on my future. Thanks for posting this!
I was just accepted ED to Kenyon and I am so so so excited to be going there and I remember watching the video six months ago when I was thinking about applying
This is how I feel about my school, Earlham College. This isn't the first time I've realized, but definitely the most conscious realization, how lucky I am not only to go to the perfect place for me but to know how amazing it is while I'm there.
Of course! Who wouldn't want to an update on an adorable toddler who is decidedly made of awesome?
I really want to use that in something I'm writing now. "Downtown contains a grocery store, a restaurant, and a bookstore, but to be fair, books and food can take you a long way"
0:54 - the literal heart of Jesus.
John Green, you gave me goosebumps by showing me this, and I almost want to cry.
Simply Beautiful. You inspire me at every turn.
When he recorded himself and Henry holding hands and walking down the hill, I could only think about the day when his footsteps will match his fathers, and how when Henry will grow older, and so will us all..
Well played, Kenyon. Well played.
This video makes me nostalgic for a college experience that I didn't even have. Well done.
I teared up a bit. Great thoughts from places video John. :)
I want to thank your teachers for helping you become the man you are today. You're wonderful. More than wonderful. :)
I am literally rewatching this for the tenth time already.
so excited about getting into Kenyon!
I once had a sweatshirt, one of my favorites, wore it until it was just shreds, that said KENYON on it- and I often wondered where and what that college was like. So awesome to think that 20-30 years later, my favorite RUclips blogger went there to school....good job,John!
John made me want to go here now!! Maybe once I get my psych degree and everything I'll go here
I just thought of their first meeting but after reading your comment I teared up a bit remembering THAT part.
At first I was thinking this made my college look really terrible, but then I realized my university is not less awesome just different awesome.
John, You have such a beautifully romantic college history. As my journey is college is ending soon, I hope to make my own; just as beautiful as yours.
Wow that was really wonderful. Thanks John :)
My University also has precious memories and excellent teaching like this. (Plymouth, UK) :)
Love the look of that place. Bet it was amazing to go there.
This video gives me hope.
the king of nostalgia :)
This video reminds me that no matter where you come from, you can do great things if you have the passion for it.
This is awesome, like always
I have to admit I still harbor some ill will for being waitlisted by Kenyon my first time around applying to college, but the campus is super pretty. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one totally in love with my alma mater (*cough*Cornell Big Red!*cough*) and that we're allowed to be nerdy about our old classrooms.
Beautiful, John!
I applied to Kenyon and got in, but for several reasons I chose Lipscomb instead. I loved Kenyon when I visited, though, and I still remember receiving my "owl." I think I still have that bookmark!
From what I can tell, a lot of my college experience depends on what I put into it. I prefer small schools (obviously), but you can still pursue an excellent education at an enormous university. I love Lipscomb and am extremely satisfied with my decision.
what a gorgeous college!
I don't know why, but I had to favorite this video. Just hit me somewhere. I don't know where, and I don't know why. But it did...
This is very surreal for me. For two years I went to a Teen Institute Conference held at Kenyon College. I spent most of the time with my group in Ascension Hall. We had our own classes in the classrooms John had his, and I stayed in the same dorm building John did. It's so weird to see these sights through John's eyes. If I had only known about Vlogbrothers at the time, I can't imagine how awesome it would have been to have the opportunity to know I was sitting where John might have once.
And in my 3 months here, I've already seen both of them on campus
While I was watching this video I thought "Well that settles the debate of where I will be spending my freshman year of college!" Then I remembered that I want to be a surgeon. I am currently deciding whether or not to change my life goals to revolve aroung writing and becoming the new John Green.
There was this funny way my heart sunk when John said "... Where I imagined much of the setting for my book TFiOS"... I paused the video on that church and all I could think of was Augustus and Hazel in the final chapters in that novel. I won't spoil it, but by God what a saddeningly beautiful picture my mind just formed.
I would like to see the Heart of Jesus in more detail, please. I just started TFiOS for the first time today... It would be nice to always see it in my mind's eye as it is intended to be seen.
Yes, Henry update video!
Thanks John for the lovely video --- just what a recent Kenyon grad needed for some lovely Kenyon snippets. I actually miss Middle Path; that's saying a lot, since I actively avoided it during the winter months when it would ice over.
Wow, that was genuinely inspirational, so thanks
You win the internet. Best, and most original comment ever.
Kenyon has been my first choice school since I heard about it and fell in love last year. I'm currently a freshman and UT right now, because I can't afford to go anywhere else. :PPPP Screw you and your awesome video making me sad about it again.