Freedom

I have freedom here. I can eat in class, I can get up and leave class whenever I want, I can sleep in and not go to class. No nagging from parents or teachers. It does take some getting used to that no one is going to wake you up to go to class or remind you about what needs to be done and when. You can do whatever you want.

I like this sense of freedom. But I don't necessarily behave any differently than when I didn’t have it. The difference is that now I am making the decision, not others. The result in terms of my behaviour is usually the same but that is not necessarily relevant to how I feel about it.

In a way, it is more relaxed at this small university than in high school. There seems to be no need for heavy-handed policing systems. Yes, there are people in the residences whose job it is to see that things don't get too far out of hand. But not many, and they don't have a lot to do.

Perhaps it's because the place is small and most people know other people; if you see people behaving in certain ways, you'll see them again tomorrow, and if you don't know who they are, it would be easy to find out. That tames peoples' wilder sides. I think, too, that the kinds of people who would be attracted to come here wouldn't be ones whose behaviour would stretch other peoples' tolerances. They'd find it too quiet, too conservative, too constricting, and too boring.

Good. I have all the freedom I want. People who would use their freedom in ways that would bother me have gone somewhere else. It all suits me just fine in a place like this.