I'm sorry. I entered college 20 years ago as a religious conservative from a rural area, and it was a total culture shock to me. I did not leave college any of those things. And it took me a very long time after college to "return to my roots" as it were and not completely reject that part of myself and see it instead as a strength.
It's hard to give advice (which I realize you aren't asking for but still) because you are young and probably will change quite a bit as you get older and that's not necessarily bad. What I will say is that people will try to make you feel guilty and/or ashamed about who and what you are and where you are from, and what your values are. You should not feel guilt or shame over these things. Anyone who tries to get you to do so is not acting in your best interests, even if they claim to be a friend. And even if you completely change your mind about certain things, who you once were and what you believed is a part of you and has an impact on who you will be in the future.
And you should take advantage of being able to explore new ideas and interests without having to spend most of your waking hours focused on stuff that someone else has already figured out. As closed-minded as you think university is, the working world is much more so; and you will still probably miss it once it is gone.
I thought I knew, but broadly speaking being raised a neo-conservative there are enough holes in that philosophy that it led me to question it. And then of course much later the holes in neo-liberalism revealed themselves and left me unsatisfied with that philosophy.
Once I discovered right-wing nationalism/populism was a thing, that was the end of my search for a home. In that regard perhaps OP is ahead of the curve, but then again perhaps his true home is elsewhere.
I was told by a close friend that they thought less of people who were religious. I might have gotten the "but you're one of the good ones" exclusions when that was said, but I don't remember.
I'm sorry. I entered college 20 years ago as a religious conservative from a rural area, and it was a total culture shock to me. I did not leave college any of those things. And it took me a very long time after college to "return to my roots" as it were and not completely reject that part of myself and see it instead as a strength.
It's hard to give advice (which I realize you aren't asking for but still) because you are young and probably will change quite a bit as you get older and that's not necessarily bad. What I will say is that people will try to make you feel guilty and/or ashamed about who and what you are and where you are from, and what your values are. You should not feel guilt or shame over these things. Anyone who tries to get you to do so is not acting in your best interests, even if they claim to be a friend. And even if you completely change your mind about certain things, who you once were and what you believed is a part of you and has an impact on who you will be in the future.
And you should take advantage of being able to explore new ideas and interests without having to spend most of your waking hours focused on stuff that someone else has already figured out. As closed-minded as you think university is, the working world is much more so; and you will still probably miss it once it is gone.
I thought I knew, but broadly speaking being raised a neo-conservative there are enough holes in that philosophy that it led me to question it. And then of course much later the holes in neo-liberalism revealed themselves and left me unsatisfied with that philosophy.
Once I discovered right-wing nationalism/populism was a thing, that was the end of my search for a home. In that regard perhaps OP is ahead of the curve, but then again perhaps his true home is elsewhere.
That is very similar to my own experience.
Did you have those awkward interactions where they say present company excluded after saying something really trashy about were you are from?
I was told by a close friend that they thought less of people who were religious. I might have gotten the "but you're one of the good ones" exclusions when that was said, but I don't remember.