Here at App State, there exists a freshman seminar on "How to Think." This class teaches the student how to have integrity and how to be intellectually sound. How to evaluate resources and make arguments. They hand them the tools to begin your college experience with an open mind. They build the foundation to raise a generation of critical thinkers.

Then they begin taking classes and face a completely different narrative. Professors enter the classroom with a bias that seeps into the material they teach-- sometimes quite purposefully. Students are no longer taught how to think, but what to think. And if the students disagree with their ideology, they are wrong, and their grade may well suffer from it.

Take a British Literature class. These texts span centuries and often have many interpretations. Despite this, you, the professor, have adopted a single lens through which you read pieces. That lens is comprised of your own social ideology. While I disagree with your beliefs, I respect them. We all have a right to our opinions. But you do not have a right to judge my grade based on how well our ideologies align.

Take the novel Oryx and Crake, or Brave New World. You have taught these works through the lens of an anti-capitalistic social justice warrior. You claim that they are open critiques of the American economic system. But I disagree. Where you see the follies of capitalism, I see the failures of socialism. And that's an argument I'd love to have with you. We've discussed it lightly many times before.

Yet, every time it comes up, I am quick to share my opinion. I assumed that this classroom is akin to many others I have been in: a place of free speech and the respectful sharing of thoughts. But you dismiss my beliefs. You have laughed at me before. As if my ideas are so absurd, they do not even need to be taken seriously. And now, I fear the dissent my ideas bring. I fear that if I write essays and answer questions while sticking to my beliefs, you will count them wrong and my grade will suffer.

Don't despair in thinking that you're alone. I've taken other classes like this before. A chemistry class taught through the lens of global climate change. A writing class rooted in a political ideology in the midst of a campaign. Some professors I agreed with, some I did not. Yet I firmly believe that my education has been limited by every one of those experiences, whether they aligned with my beliefs or not.

I came to this university to broaden my horizons. To be exposed to new thoughts and ideas, to deepen my understanding of others. My mind is open, but my grades are not. You have the right to express your opinions, not to force me to believe them and punish me if I do not.