“Another year or two and she will be shunned and pushed out by her liberal peers for asking too many questions and sounding too conservative. She hasn’t yet fully discovered that her destination will be conservatism precisely because she wants to think for herself.”
Good summation and I’d only add the old saw about a conservative being a liberal who has been mugged. I do not wish any violence on the author, merely pointing out that certain triggering events in our lives can bring a focus that would be hard to achieve otherwise. Such an event sweeps away the fog of human foibles and rationalizations to leave the clear light of day to see things as they are.
She's lucky. She got "mugged" metaphorically by a set of facts. There's no turning back now. She has turned her brain on and begun to actually think; to base her thoughts on reality. I have great hope for her.