Thursday, February 11, 2016

To Date or Not to Date

I knew this was definitely a topic I wanted to cover, since “dating” is one of the many struggles college students face, but I was not sure exactly when to discuss it.  I figured it was something I would write about when inspiration hit me.

And inspiration practically punched me in the face when I was reminded of what holiday was taking place this Sunday.

What better time to make a blog post about dating than a mere couple of days away from Valentines Day?

I am not going to lie, if you are one of the lucky souls who has someone to make plans with this Sunday, I am slightly jealous of you.  While I did receive a text from this guy earlier today wanting to “hang out” Sunday night, I anticipate my Valentines Day to go the same as last year, and the year before that.  Snuggled in my bed with junk food watching whatever decent romantic comedy I can find on Netflix.



The college dating field is a lot different from high school.  And the reason being is college students rarely date anymore.

Terms like “dating” and “being in a relationship” have slowly been replaced by “talking” and “seeing each other”.  God forbid you refer to the person you make out with at parties and text all the time as your “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”.

We are in the prime of the hookup culture my friends.  An environment where no one wants to be in a serious relationship; however people would rather take on multiple partners, without making a commitment to any of them.

There are pros and cons to this.  Lets talk about the obvious cons here.  Any kind of romance you might have witnessed in movies is practically void in hookup culture.  There are no flowers or fancy dates.  There are no sweet good morning or good night texts.  A usual text from someone you’re merely hooking up with probably looks something like “heyy” , “lol” and “wyd?”.  The person rarely cares about your well-being, only if you’re willing to meet up with them Friday night. 

While the adverse effects are clear, there are some surprising pros that come with hookup culture.  Being in a relationship requires a great deal of work.  In a serious relationship at least, you are expected to put your partner’s needs before your own, and that can be tough.  College is the time to be selfish – to do things YOU want that make YOU happy.  It’s the time to explore and figure out what you like and don’t like.  These things are hard to do when you’re in a relationship.

So to date or not to date, well that’s up to you (and your partner of course).  While dating can be rough in college, it’s also fulfilling to have someone by your side.

Here are some articles that discuss dating in college:

And if you need me on Sunday, I’ll be in my bed.  Probably procrastinating on homework while drowning in junk food and romance movies.
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 12, 2016 at 5:31 AM

    I often hear people talking about who they hooked up with and how some boy or girl is getting to clingy while hanging out around campus. While I do have a boyfriend since he doesn't go here I will be looking similar to you on Sunday lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 12, 2016 at 6:47 AM

    I like the way you presented the pros and cons of this issue. When you brought up Valentine's Day, I was dreading a long-winded and somewhat whiny post. But, instead, you were very candid and did a good job to look at the strange aspects of the college hook up culture. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 12, 2016 at 6:47 AM

    I like the way you presented the pros and cons of this issue. When you brought up Valentine's Day, I was dreading a long-winded and somewhat whiny post. But, instead, you were very candid and did a good job to look at the strange aspects of the college hook up culture. Well done.

    ReplyDelete

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