Well, the thing is, most college-age "kids" seem to have been rather formally immersed in left-wing philosophies for decades, and to have any formal training in a more comprehensive outlook can't hurt.
"1984" and the Ayn Rand books can only go so far.
With respect to my party affiliation, it's just been that way for, well, "ever," and actually, my first contact with conservatism was through Ayn Rand's books in college. I recognized them as imperfect*, but not bad. However, I remember wayyyy back in eighth grade, a teacher espousing "wealth redistribution" philosophies and I lived with that outlook until college**. (The Ayn Rand books were not part of any class curriculum; they were given to me by a fellow student.)
So.... no autobiography intended, but that's more or less why I outwardly espouse what seem to be extreme conservative positions. (Not, mind you, so-called "fascist" positions... which actually seem more characteristic of today's so-called "antifa" nut jobs.)
Terry
*Especially WRT helping those who can't help themselves. The idea that private charitable institutions could accomplish this was a little beyond what I figured was reasonable.
** High School was pretty much all business/technical and any political stuff was pretty straightforward civics "here's how it works" stuff, without "here's how it should work" stuff. (Brooklyn Technical High School.)