Swarthmore College is one of the most notoriously liberal bastions in the country.

After four years, student columnist Tyler Becker recounts his experiences as a campus conservative.

…Sometimes I regret calling my column “The Swarthmore Conservative.” While I am a conservative, I have written about more than politics in this column. Certain issues have arisen on campus that I felt I needed to address, and at those times I really wanted to be looked at only as a fellow Swattie. Advocating against the fraternity referendum, supporting Robert Zoellick ’79’s honorary degree, complaining about the Swarthmore tendency to not reply to e-mails, and explaining why Robert George ’78 did not deserve the treatment he received, are not “conservative” positions, per se. Nor are they minority views on this campus.

At other times, the label has been an important heuristic for understanding what you are getting yourself into by reading. Sometimes you may end up agreeing with my position, or at least realize that the conservative raises a good point. Thanks to all you Swatties who have come up to me in Sharples when this was the case. That experience is something many of us will never again have, as we go into the polarized political world.

One thing I have never shared in a meaningful way is how I came to be a conservative. Once people get to know my background, they are always surprised that I do not fit their mistaken perception of what conservatives are. Usually the dealbreaker is that I am actually on a full scholarship to Swarthmore right now, and not from some uppity suburb of an American city. Nor am I from some “backwards southern town” (their words, not mine) that, as President Obama says, clings to guns and religion.

I grew up in a small town of around 7,000 people, an hour from Boston, an hour from the ocean and an hour from the mountains. I definitely spent most of my childhood outdoors in all seasons, swimming in the many free lakes and climbing the mountains we have in New Hampshire. Going into Boston was a rarity, particularly due to the cost. The “city” was Concord, our small state capital.

When I was younger, the only politics I heard about were from my parents and the people at my church. Growing up, my parents identified as moderate Democrats like so many other working class Americans. They embraced the “independent” label we have in New Hampshire, where you can still vote in either party’s primary. But they were definitely Democrats. This has changed in recent years, as my parents have come to see Washington care less and less about the middle class.