What Bard students esteem most about in their overall experience is that they’ve had the chance to develop what so many other college students haven’t—a personal connection with their school. This is deceivingly rare, as many students at big universities miss out on the things Bard students take for granted, like small, intimate classes, personal relationships with professors, and a tightly-knit community in which people share similar interests and commitments. For all of its cliquishness, Bard’s student body ultimately possesses a unique understanding of itself. On the whole, Bardians seem to own the idea that, although not every person at Bard shares a friendship, each is still connected in some way by a willingness to accept what is different from him- or herself. And, while Bard students admittedly have a hard time showing compassion for conservatism or ignorance, they do welcome people of any gender, sexuality, and race.
Some suggest that Bard is like a bubble—an isolated, introverted space closed off from the rest of the world. In some ways, this is true. Things go on at Bard that don’t and maybe can’t go on elsewhere, and in many ways, Bard students have a pretty easy four years. Unfortunately, when they are ready to leave the college, some might find the outside world to be not quite so accepting. However, the degree to which Bard students are concerned with the goings-on in the rest of the world (evident by the number of protests and fundraisers in which they participate) suggests that Bard’s bubble is blessedly incomplete—that there exists a very real connection between us and the outside world. Many Bardians are dedicated to furthering this connection, to making the planet a better place through the knowledge they take away from Bard, and this is indeed one of the finest qualities found within our school. Most students, although they complain endlessly about Bard’s size and inconvenient location, could never picture themselves anywhere else.