Take a Left

Back in middle school I can shamefully remember a slightly smaller, much more immature version of myself that loved to shove atheism and liberal ideas down the throats of anyone too scared to say anything. The knowledge that I had obtained about topics I was passionate about gave me a sense of entitlement and empowerment. Inside, I was a leftist animal who chose to attack anyone who opposed my point of view. I humbly viewed myself as an intellectual powerhouse and therefore I decided I had to go to the best of the best for high school, Phillips Exeter Academy. Only when I got to Exeter did I fully realize the fault in my ways. I remember feeling sick as I grew to understand how much of a jerk I must have been seemed to everyone around me. But I won’t say “thanks” to Exeter for forcing me to see how I acted because the only reason I came to this realization was because I have been both the victim and bystander. I don’t think I ever would have pictured myself saying that a place could be too liberal for me, but now I believe I can. Coming to Exeter showed me that I’m a liberal, but I’m not so far to the left that I cannot keep others from expressing any conservative values without a communal backlash.

I remember just recently reading an Exeter Confesses post regarding one of the “No means No” signs being taped to one male student’s door. Whether it was a joke or not, this makes me feel as a fellow male student like I’m in the place of the people who I forced my views on in middle school. There have been responses to posts like this saying “When will they learn?” I am not “they.” I refuse to be put into that group and have to think of that and feel ashamed for nothing every time I walk into a bathroom, let alone my own room. Take the new V’s policy that caters to the transgender community. I support all things that enforce equal rights between all sexual orientations. And although many here are against it, we still passed a new policy that takes away our freedom for important, private conversations make a very small group of people “equal” in a very specific aspect. I would rather us take on a new policy that allows everyone to feel comfortable and keep private conversations but, Exeter being Exeter, we just could not do that.

We are a progressive school that supports LGBTQ+ rights, fights against racial stereotypes and welcomes all religions. In other words, we accept all groups of people. Yet this seemingly utopian land for any die-hard-liberal has become a silent hell for those who are anywhere on the spectrum of conservative to left leaning moderate. I have been in situations where someone might just not understand the different pronouns and so they ask questions. And here, on the best day, they will get a few eyeballs and scrunched eyebrows. As a liberal, I feel like I have to blend in with the rest of the population at Exeter and go along with everything, without any hesitation. I have some conservative viewpoints that I never dared to express with the fear of being called intolerant and told to go and vote for Trump. There is some lack of understanding that because of how people have been raised, they understand things differently and come around to ideas more slowly than others. In all honesty, this extremely liberal community can feel just as oppressive as the members of the tea party we spite. There is only one way here, and that is the liberal way.