Worried about fitting in

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>Amherst sent me an early write back in February, and ever since I eliminated its last competitor from my list I have been excited to go there. I knew that the size of the school and the potential academic flexibility was unbeatable, and when I visited everyone was very accomodating and nice…</p>

<p>However, a nagging doubt has been resurfacing from the back of my mind. I’m a serious, intellectual person with a great deal of self-direction. I come from a politically conservative family of humbler means than most students here; Amherst is paying my education full-freight. Amherst itself is a great vessel for a dynamic, make-it-yourself education, but I’m afraid it’ll turn into Pleasantville, and afraid I won’t have anything in common with my peers – that I won’t be able to, say, have a conversation about Shakespeare or Feynman over a game of catch without someone rolling their eyes at me.</p>

<p>Maybe these are just the symptoms of cold feet, as with any long-term commitment… Can any current students or alumni reassure me?</p>

2

<p>By “Pleasantville”, presumably you mean, the Tobey Maguire movie:
<a href=“Pleasantville (1998) - IMDb”>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120789/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Yup.</p>

4

<p>Have you started a post in Amherst’s respective facebook group with some of your interests? You’re bound to have some people with the same interests as you. In my school group, W&M Class of 2018, there were plenty of people into phillisophical discussions “what is life? what is beauty? how do we know we are real?” etc. and discussions about Shakespeare. As well as pop culture junkies, people reallllly into Harry Potter, and even the occasional debate and of course discussions of music.</p>

<p>Start up a post. You might be surprised how many people are interested in the same things as you are. I certainly was when I tried.</p>