I tend to lean toward more liberal views on life, but I still wasn’t too concerned knowing my college has a very conservative atmosphere. Before college, I had general ideas on where I stood for several social issues, my religious beliefs and my political views. It wasn’t until I started attending and taking classes where I unexpectedly was opened up to many different views and the reasoning behind them.
As a Reformed Christian college, I expected the majority of the people I met to be Christians. While a large portion of the campus is made up of Christians, I was surprised to meet so many people that don’t identify with this religion, or even any religion at all. At first, I thought it was strange to think about. I didn’t understand how or why someone would choose to go here when they don’t identify with one of the major aspects of this college. However, this also allowed me to admire their decisions despite the overwhelming number of religious students.
Most of the students in this smaller population on campus, I noticed, seemed to be very passionate about the concept of not forcing a religion onto others. They strongly believe that religion should not be something forced onto you, but something you personally grow to want to accept. I found this admirable because it allowed me to reflect on my own beliefs more in depth. I am now reflecting on what I believe in and what I don’t. My constant surroundings of a Christian college and nonreligious students made me better understand the nonreligious world: one I was not familiar with at all prior to college.
Now, I can better appreciate both the religious and the nonreligious on campus. I can respect the Christian students that want to fully immerse themselves in their faith by attending a Christian college. But I can also admire the nonreligious students for allowing me to acknowledge my beliefs, rethink about where I stand on them and fully appreciate what I choose to believe in.
I was also surprised on the social issues that were more fully brought to my attention at college. Same sex marriages, transgender rights, race and abortion are only a few of the issues I’ve been becoming more aware of. I can owe a lot of my awareness to the classes required of a liberal arts education. A lot of my general education courses, such as my religion courses and social sciences courses, have brought up a lot of these social issues. Before coming to college, I generally knew what I wanted to support and what I disagreed with. Now, I actually realized legit reasons why people choose to or not to support certain concepts.
I was thoroughly surprised by my small, conservative, liberal arts, overly religious college. I knew my courses would expand my knowledge, but I never would’ve expected the college as a whole to expand my views on the outside world. My college may be trapped in a little bubble that people think wants to force its beliefs onto its students, but this actually helped me grow and learn. Don’t be so quick to judge these types of colleges. Even if they don’t openly support the beliefs and ideas you do, it can be an amazing experience.
