Image Issues

Hey ya’ll! So this is my first post on Blog9 but I’ve been watching all others so I wanted to bring up an issue I see more frequently as the year has progressed: political/social factions. Is the typical Vassar student is as in awe of our campus as I am? Probably not. Personally this school is the best opportunity I’ve been given in life! It came down to State University of (insert unknown small state title here) or Vassar College…the choice was obvious!

Within the first few weeks of class I noticed that many people perceived me as backwater conservative even though I self identify Democrat and moderately liberal. I suddenly fell victim to multiple stereotypes and pre-conceived notions of my character, and quickly felt alone and stranded in a new world far from my familiar farmlands. As I listened to the conversations about high school dropouts or teen pregnancy, I was reminded of all my friends back home living happily without a college education and with children at 18 or 19! Happiness doesn’t always mean a masters degree and a NYC flat or a liberal lifestyle.

I wonder if Vassar’s image doesn’t fool its students into believing only a certain type of person attends, and this could be a problem. It is rarely recognized that there IS a faction of Vassar students who are of lower class, conservative, and even extremely religious. As vivalawhitegirl’s recent confession shows, many people refuse to accept that conservatives have the right of free speech too and that stigma’s may not always be true.

contrASt