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!
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.
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.
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.
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 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 .
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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.
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...
agreed. it is the best school for John, but probably not for everyone. i am in college and i love it here. it is the best school, for me. what the kids who watched this and crave to attend Kenyon has to realize that they have become a kind of person that they probably do not like: people that blindly follow what everyone else says. this is why many products get celebrities as spokesperson because of the influence they have on those who would follow them so they could "be just like them."
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!
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.
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.
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..
Who else paused the video for about a good 5-10 minutes in the church, and just sat there staring at the the literal heart of Jesus (i assume.) It's so strange looking at it and just imagining where Agustus and Hazel first met. It's like you are actually visiting the place where the event actually took place, solely because you are seeing through the mind's eye of John.
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.
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.
It's stuff like this that reminds me that as much as the people I admire seem like me. They are not like me. I can't imagine being able to afford something like this. Much less feeling comfortable once I was there. Talk about beginning with a head start.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 CZcams blogger went there to school....good job,John!
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.
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"
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.
Although that being said, as awesome as it is, John's learning experience was great as he had smaller classrooms. In other universities where there are almost hundred students per class, it's hard for teachers to nurture for everybody, especially students like John.
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! ;-)
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.
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
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.
Agreed. I'm about to graduate from my small liberal arts college (Furman University, Greenville, SC) and I honestly could not imagine having a better academic experience.
"And there's no place on God's green earth quieter than a college campus at 8 on a saturday morning."
"Nostalgia is in the business of twisting memories into lies"
MIND BLOWN!
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.
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!
Kenyon and Gambier will always be one of my homes.
Beauty and love. That is John Green.
"books and food will take you a long way in this life." truth.
John Green has the ability to make me nostalgic for places I've never been and experiences I've never had.
Hands down, best promotion video ever.
Love Kenyon, love John Green.
And brought laughter to hundreds!
John when and if I meet you I am going to give you the biggest hug!
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 THOUGHT THE SAME EXACT THING. Some things about Kenyon never chance but JOHN JOHN THAT TRADITION IS ONE OF THEM!
“Books and food will take you a long way in life” 😊
'Her kiss was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.' God, that is so beautiful.
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.
Glad that you got to see Don Rogan and I hope he's still doing well! I still owe him one.
It makes me sad that I haven't made my university experience so enlightening and inspiring as John's apparently was.
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.
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 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 .
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.
My brother now wants to go to Kenyan and study literature and religion . You are an inspiration John Green.
Kenyon Loves You Back
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
"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.
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.
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.
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.
I WISH I WENT TO KENYON!!! First Allison Janey, then HIMYM's Josh Radnor and now HIM!! the BEST people go to Kenyon!
Of course! Who wouldn't want to an update on an adorable toddler who is decidedly made of awesome?
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.
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.
This is why he is such a great vlogger!
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.
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..
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.
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...
My friend Becca was just telling me about how she ran into John at the local supermarket that Friday! I was very jealous.
agreed. it is the best school for John, but probably not for everyone. i am in college and i love it here. it is the best school, for me. what the kids who watched this and crave to attend Kenyon has to realize that they have become a kind of person that they probably do not like: people that blindly follow what everyone else says.
this is why many products get celebrities as spokesperson because of the influence they have on those who would follow them so they could "be just like them."
The Literal Heart of Jesus, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereof.
Kenyon College looks beautiful!
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!
God I love Kenyon. My sister just graduated from there. He needs to tour there!
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.
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.
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..
Who else paused the video for about a good 5-10 minutes in the church, and just sat there staring at the the literal heart of Jesus (i assume.) It's so strange looking at it and just imagining where Agustus and Hazel first met. It's like you are actually visiting the place where the event actually took place, solely because you are seeing through the mind's eye of John.
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.
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.
what a gorgeous college!
It's stuff like this that reminds me that as much as the people I admire seem like me. They are not like me. I can't imagine being able to afford something like this. Much less feeling comfortable once I was there. Talk about beginning with a head start.
Kenyon, I may be Canadian (and therefore extremely unlikely to ever come to your school), but you have an absolutely GORGEOUS campus.
This video gives me hope.
John Green makes me wish I could go back to university.
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...
It's practically the best too!
JOHN. AGH. JOHN. TFIOS NERDS. I LOVE YOU ALL.
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.
I am literally rewatching this for the tenth time already.
The History of Love!!
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.
0:54 - the literal heart of Jesus.
John Green, you gave me goosebumps by showing me this, and I almost want to cry.
John made me want to go here now!! Maybe once I get my psych degree and everything I'll go here
“In short I know nostalgia is the business of twisting memory into lies”, this quote will follow me for some time.
Thanks for making John Green for us!
My University also has precious memories and excellent teaching like this. (Plymouth, UK) :)
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.
You win the internet. Best, and most original comment ever.
Well played, Kenyon. Well played.
This video reminds me that no matter where you come from, you can do great things if you have the passion for it.
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.
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.
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 CZcams blogger went there to school....good job,John!
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.
Yes, Henry update video!
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"
two videos in one day how lucky are we
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.
"Nostalgia is the business of twisting memories into lies." Perfection.
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.
Although that being said, as awesome as it is, John's learning experience was great as he had smaller classrooms. In other universities where there are almost hundred students per class, it's hard for teachers to nurture for everybody, especially students like John.
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 want to thank your teachers for helping you become the man you are today. You're wonderful. More than wonderful. :)
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.
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
One day I want to be that kind of teacher for my students. It's god to have a life goal.
the king of nostalgia :)
Thoughts from places are actually my favorite videos ever.
This was beautiful. Thank you John.
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.
And in my 3 months here, I've already seen both of them on campus
Henry - how can you be so adorable?
"...and there's no place on gods green earth quieter than a college campus at eight on a Saturday morning" so true john, sooo true haha
so excited about getting into Kenyon!
Agreed. I'm about to graduate from my small liberal arts college (Furman University, Greenville, SC) and I honestly could not imagine having a better academic experience.
I applied to Kenyon yesterday! Fingers crossed.