After four years in weed-friendly East Quad (with co-ed bathrooms in the '70s), imagine how appalled we diehard(-left) Wolverines were when our liberal East Coast boarding school kid announced he was applying to SERVICE ACADEMIES! Where the heck did THAT come from? Hair-on-fire didn’t begin to describe it. Our jaws are still partly on the floor but, guess what? Almost everything we thought and feared about that environment turned out to be wrong. WE were the ones who were “mis-informed” about military conservatism, and our son has emerged from that nowhere-near-as-rightwing-as-we-thought pool a much better educated-on-all-fronts person than when he entered. As I posted a long time ago on the Surprises at your child’s college vs. expectations thread:
Both son and parents were surprised at the level of tolerance and respect for ALL opinions, genders, and beliefs. The academy was nowhere (and I mean nowhere) near as conservative as expected. The level of engagement with and honest debate of current issues is refreshing and not one-sided or pre-determined at all. Though trained to understand and follow orders, the Corp of Cadets is also trained to make executive decisions and give orders under pressure. This training means looking at issues and problems from ALL angles for best outcomes. No one is served in life-or-death situations by agendas. Though I can’t say the same for parents clubs and online forums, the academy culture is modern and refreshingly open to ideas and encourages strong, intelligent debate without tolerating platitudes. Almost four years in, and we’ve been humbled by the recognition of our own prejudices concerning the military.
I have to admit, we were hoping he’d choose Michigan but, if not, we assumed he’d choose a school closer to our family values. That he’d even consider attending a college that no one would label liberal was anathema, but when we saw what this “conservative” education produced in him, I am thankful we were unable to stand in his way. (I am ashamed to say that we tried.) So, I totally get looking for colleges that lean toward your zone, but our experience with West Point showed us that what went in was not ruined, undone, or harmed in any way by that highly immersive experience. Instead, what came out was refined, thoughtful, and so well-informed.
If our liberal son was not scathed but rather enriched by his experience at a small service academy, I don’t think anyone coming from a conservative POV should be concerned about having their views challenged/expanded by the wide range of opinions that constitute large universities. That challenge is fundamental to education. Given what I know now, political leaning would be closer to the bottom of my list of criteria for selecting a college than it was when our son was going through the process. I guess we’ve been educated.