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<p>I second what gadad says, but it’s not only in the South. Here in Minnesota we have what’s known as “Minnesota nice,” a surface pleasantness, politeness, and helpfulness, but there’s something about our predominantly Nordic-German cultural heritage that makes a lot of people here really reserved and difficult to get to know beyond that surface “nice.” (Listen to Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion on public radio, you’ll get it).</p>
<p>I’ve lived in many different parts of the country. In my experience, people in the West, although perhaps not as surface “nice” as Midwesterners and Southerners, are the most open and genuinely welcoming, with the fewest barriers to forming deeper relationships quickly. Of course, that’s a gross generalization; you’ll find many different types in all parts of the country. </p>
<p>But college campuses tend to be different. Especially at those that draw their student body from all parts of the country and go out of their way to embrace diversity of all types—ethnic, cultural, intellectual, regional—there’s a kind of universal expectation among students that we’re all thrown into this big mixing bowl together, and we need to be open to each other and embrace one another. Again, it may or may not translate into surface “nice,” but the people who attend colleges like that are by and large looking for life-changing experiences, and that extends to forming deep, lasting, and meaningful relationships with their classmates.</p>