Jessica Adams
I wear a lot of eye makeup. I have enjoyed beer most of my life. I hate showering and shaving and therefore rarely do either. I am very sarcastic. I like reading about Harry Potter a lot more than Augustine.
I am not saying I am weird or crazy, because I don’t consider myself either. I think I am normal and would be considered normal at a “normal” college.
But, as we all know, Hillsdale College is not normal. It is special. While other schools would take my “abnormalities” in stride, there is something about Hillsdale that really highlights each one.
So, when I came as a freshman, I did what I thought I had to do to feel comfortable here: I made people around me comfortable. I showered daily, stopped drinking, read Augustine and cut down on my sarcasm (although I refused to give up my eye makeup).
And wouldn’t you know it, my freshman, sophomore and junior years were really hard for me—because I wanted to make those around me feel comfortable. I became a walking, talking, reading wannabe-normal-Hillsdale-College-student around other students. I do not recommend it.
The few here who knew me well knew of my real self and my trials, but they didn’t do much about it because they couldn’t. They weren’t censoring me—I was censoring myself.
I am a lucky one, though. Eventually, I figured this whole thing out. I finally realized I can be myself here. I don’t have to shower or shave, I can read about Harry, I can wear all the eye makeup I want, I can drink beer and I can continue being my sarcastic self.
And some people won’t like it. I know a lot of people may not like those things, but I would like to think that they’d rather have me be myself and be happy than have me be “like them” and be miserable. As someone close to me recently said, “God made you the way you are for a reason.”
So as we celebrate diversity at Hillsdale, I would like people to think about their individual “abnormalities” and to consider others’ as well. And talk about them if they concern you, but please don’t try to cover them up.
Since God made us different for a reason, figure out what that reason is. Figure out why someone would do things differently than you. Better yet, think about why you do what you do. Why don’t you wear a lot of eye makeup? Is showering that important anyway? How can you not adore the Harry Potter books? Are the French right about the whole “shaving is overrated” thing?
Okay, so maybe those aren’t the grand issues of the world that I want you to reconsider, but the point is still the same: Diversity is a gift. I think the students and faculty of Hillsdale could work on treating it as such instead of treating it as a disease that needs to be cured.
In conclusion: No, Hillsdale does not fit me like a glove, but it really doesn’t need to.
I prefer mittens anyways.
Adams is a Hillsdale College senior majoring in psychology.