This country is divided by many things. Many people have a very different opinion on subjects and many emotions about certain topics. Growing up without having politics being shoved down my throat, I was able to form my own opinions as one does in college and I have come to a few conclusions.

You have to pick your battles. While sitting in a class or walking through the drill field you hear some things that you just do not agree with and it pains you to hear the conversation. You have to turn a blind eye at some things and keep on going with your day. It is exhausting to have to debate certain things over and over again, so pick your battles and debate when needed.

People are going to believe what they wish. It does not have to lineup with your ideas completely. Some people with opposite views will want to debate, and will not want to turn the other cheek. That is the opportunity for you to do so in instead. Not everyone with opposing views/ideas is worth the time to get worked up over.

You do not have to discuss these things with everyone. Yes, politics are important. Yes, they impact many people. Yes, there are people you will not want to associate with because of their views. With that being said, you do not have to discuss your political ideology with every person on this campus.

Some people do not care about any of this. You could discuss a wide range of topics and there will be no one upstairs in their head. Some wish to not be bothered by politics or anything of that sort. That is their decision and they do not want to hear about it no matter what you believe or think.

If you chose not to be associated with someone because of their views/ideas that is okay. This is college and there are thousands of other people on campus. Go and find the people that respect your beliefs, share your views. Find people that do not bash your religion, people that have tolerance and people that do not have a judgmental eye or mind.

Coming from a Midwestern state, surrounded with young adults that shared my ideas to a southern state with young adults who do not share my ideas, I was not sure what would happen, I was not sure if I would choose my battles. I had never had a conversation with someone my age that was from the state I was moving to.

The biggest thing I found was people are respectable. There are a few exceptions, but you find those type of disagreements everywhere. But on this campus, I found people who share my political views and people who do not. For the people who do not, they respect what I believe and I respect theirs in return. Sometimes it is not even a topic to be discussed, and if it brought up there is no blood to be spilled.