College is the metaphorical limbo of love. You can go to class and listen to whispers of what parties were the best and who “hooked up” with who in the back of the class while looking at the couple in front of you plan their engagement party on Etsy. There are friends with benefits and high school sweethearts, Tinder swipers and kissless-virgins, married couples, one night stands and everything in between.
Many people will try to say that a new partner every weekend must have an effect on self-esteem or that getting married at 20 is going to lock you down and ruin your life but love isn’t the same for everyone. Many give credit to college as being the most formative years of their life. For many, college is the first time students are on their own, the first time they get to grow without the guidance of parents. Figuring out what to look for in a relationship, or even to look for one at all, is a big part of figuring out who you are. Young adults are going through some of the most dramatic changes in their personalities, goals, and future plans and with all that change comes two very different views of love.
On one side are the kings and queens of one night stands and the other, those who believe they have found their soulmate, and there’s a case to be made for both sides. Whether its a new guy or girl every month, week, or night, some choose to live their lives unattached from a committed relationship, and that’s not wrong. Some choose to have something solid in their life, a significant other who provides some stability, and that’s not wrong either.
To think that there is a universally correct way to be in love is just unrealistic, and to think that your way of doing it is the only correct way is even more unreasonable. If you are spending date nights thinking about the party you are missing out on maybe a relationship isn’t for you. Maybe if you are spending your nights out wishing you had someone to come home to then its time for you to settle down. In the end, love should make you happy, and if it’s not then that’s the only time it is wrong.
The Rocket staff thinks that, above all, it is important for everyone to realize what is the best option for them. Comparing your situation to someone else’s is a losing proposition. College is the ultimate melting pot of people from different backgrounds with different experiences and we are all at different points in our lives, both romantically and otherwise. Discovering what part of life you are at and embracing that is what college is all about.
