Challenging Viewpoints

I spent the first eighteen years of my life in the seacoast of New Hampshire. I lived in a town where our only claim to fame had been having the largest greenhouses in the country—until they collapsed in a thunderstorm. We’ve got cows, fields, a library and a town hall. The only reason I’m not the biggest hick you’ve ever met is because that town also contains the University of New Hampshire. Ever heard of it? It’s basically a rich school for Hippies. You’ll see them climbing trees in front of their dorms in summertime- yes, college students. My high school was in the same town and so the ‘hippie outlook’- overrun with radical ideas of “No War”, “Go Green” fanatics and boys with greasy long hair was clearly evident in my high school. My high school was the outcome of bringing liberal educators and their families to a small town: rich, intelligent kids that drove a rusty Volvo instead of a new Lexus. My parents raised my brother and me in a much more conservative manner than most kids in my town. We went to a Roman Catholic Church every Sunday, we did not recycle, and we most definitely took showers every day. Teachers liked me and other conservative students in classrooms because we were the minority and we brought a different opinion. Yeah- I hated it at first, I honestly had ignorant dirty kids telling me we shouldn’t be in school we should all just run around naked in the woods. Ridiculous. But as we grew up all of our ideas became more intelligent and backed by facts we could mold our ideas together. I'm no longer superconservative my thoughts and values tend to fall on the more conservative side of the spectrum but I'm definitely more open minded about new ideas. (And I recycle :))  I’m glad I moved to Florida; the beaches are beautiful, it’s summer 12 months a year, and I think college is what you make it. The only thing I realized I’m missing is someone challenging my opinions. As we talked about in class this part of Florida is super conservative and only now do I realize how much I benefited from different opinions. No, I don’t agree with everything Dr. Segal is saying but I do with some of it and this class seems to be that challenge I’m looking for. College is supposed to help me construct my own thoughts and ideas and I can’t do that without hearing a broader spectrum than I’ve been getting, so personally, I’m eager for this class to continue.