Alyn Berry

Editor’s note: Alyn Berry, a 2007 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, lives in Kernersville, NC.

Like most prospective college students, I expected to “find myself” in college. I didn’t have a clear idea of what that meant at the time, but having been politically active in high school, I wanted college to challenge my principles and make me defend them. I hoped I would take classes with professors who would make me reexamine my perspective on the world.

I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although UNC is highly respected in this state and others, many native North Carolinians jokingly insist that Chapel Hill is not a part of our state. Some call it the “People’s Republic of Chapel Hill,” poking fun at this college town’s liberal reputation. Despite this, I packed my bags and moved my life just an hour down the road — but a world away.

I was able to accept my liberal roommate from San Francisco, the protests in “the Pit,” and the homeless men on Franklin Street. What bothered me was what was happening in the classroom. My ideas were not being “challenged” as I had imagined; instead, they were being attacked head-on.