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<p>I think it was on this board that I read a concisely written sentence noting how you’ll always find someone who is further to the left than you are who’ll give you a hard time for not being liberal enough (at least on their pet issues). I am not as well-articulated as that nor have I ever been accused of being concise… That’s too bad for you because I couldn’t find the original quote.</p>
<p>I think that observation applies to most colleges. And it applies to finding people to the right of you, even if you lean conservative straight out of the box. In other words, all but a handful of people at most colleges are going to experience pull and be challenged for being too far to both the right and left. And that’s why the above comment by Kei-o-lei is so deadly accurate (imo). It’s how you get challenged, not whether it happens, that matters. Will those challenges tend to come in the form of taunts and ridicule and pressure to conform? Or will they come in the form of a series of dialogues where the challengers are as interested in you challenging them on their positions and most people are seeking a dynamic, diverse community, rather than a community that must gravitate toward a uniform point of equilibrium (which, coincidentally, happens to be where their personal political center is parked).</p>
<p>As others note, that’s something best judged for yourself firsthand – at every college you visit. And it’s something that has to be judged from your own perspective of what’s more important to you…as you may disagree with what **Kei-o-lei<a href=“I%20think”>/B</a> and I are suggesting. You may feel that it’s more important to be in a community that has a well-defined and highly compatible political atmosphere, so you’d need to visit colleges to see if that’s what’s being offered. Whatever you’re seeking, you should visit Oberlin to reach your own personal conclusion as to whether it will work for you on your terms.</p>