College. It's basically a synonym for freedom, which is a synonym for autonomy, choice, nonconformity. Yes, this mostly comes from the removal of parents, from family rules that dictate how many hours you spend at church on Sunday, and even from the responsibility to take care of your dog, but what else is it about the college atmosphere that really allows young adults to explore a realm of openness that allows each person to become more in touch with their individual self?
More specifically, I'm asking, what is it that made an old friend of mine from middle school come out of the closet, not even five months into his freshman year at The Ohio State University, when he had spent his whole life at home strategically placed on the furry bean bags in front of his living room TV, denying this part of himself that he longed to explore for so long?
I think the key word here is exploration, something that is encouraged in the college atmosphere but suppressed in the typical high school hallway. In a typical university setting, there are at least five times more students enrolled than in your average high school. Just to get the picture, in fall 2013, 15,460 undergraduates were enrolled at Miami University. Currently, there are about 3,800 students attending the high school from which I graduated.
With so many people to meet come so many opportunities for the exploration of oneself, so many opportunities for acceptance, and so many opportunities to flip the bird to those who don't accept you.
Graham Arledge is a junior Miami student who came out February of his freshman year. Graham acknowledged a certain comfort in the college setting that allowed him to come out more easily than in high school. He says, "I think college works as a discourse community filled with various sub communities in which individuals who identify out of the typical sexual binary can become more comfortable and confident in his or herself."
Extracurricular clubs that your high school just didn't have the budget for flourish on college campuses through people who actually care enough to create and upkeep them. Miami has clubs in support of those who sexually identify with the minority, such as GLBTQ Services, The Center for American and World Cultures and Spectrum.
My high school contained nothing close to these resources, which is probably why my friend spent so long in front of the TV, as if an answer was just going to appear to him through a Fruit Loops commercial or the latest episode of "How I Met Your Mother," as if there is even an answer to the many questions that circle one's mind when considering to be open about his or her "unconventional" sexuality.
Victoria Ellis
ellisvb@miamioh.edu