Dating at any school can be pretty tough, but when you’re at a school like Cal Poly taking 16 units every quarter, studying 28 hours a week, staying up on the three different clubs you’re in AND trying to find a time to watch the new season of Stranger Things, dating can sometimes get confusing or fall to the sidelines. Here are nine things pretty much everyone at Cal Poly SLO trying to date can relate to:
1. Everyone you meet seems like a tool.
This goes for guys and girls, but a lot of the time when you meet someone you think could be a possibility, they end up being a total tool and you realize what a big mistake you’ve made thinking they weren’t.
2. How do you even meet people?
Everyone says “once you’re in college you’ll just meet tons of people”, but no one ever tells you HOW to meet people. That accidental run in that you saw in whatever teenage rom-com where the main couple bumps into each other and the girl drops all her books and their eyes meet and they just know? If you’ve been expecting that to happen, you’ll be waiting around forever.
3. You’re outgoing but not THAT outgoing.
Walking up and talking to people is so difficult, and even if you seem like an outgoing person, you’re only outgoing once you already know someone. Even when you join clubs or attend an event, it’s just so hard to go up and talk to people you don’t know ESPECIALLY if they’re cute.
4. Even though you see potential candidates everywhere, when you actually try and meet them every possibility has vanished.
Walking to class or getting some food, you see plenty of cute guys or girls, but when you’re actually in a position to go up and talk to someone, all the cute potential matches have vanished.
5. If you live in the dorms and it doesn’t work out, you have to see them all the time.
Living in the apartments, you may have the luxury of not having to see them every single time you leave your room. If you live in the towers, you have to see that guy you went on that date with to a really awful dinner that one time and it totally didn’t work out almost every time you leave for class.
6. College student budgets.
If you go on a date, you may not have the funds to go somewhere nice or do something fun. Also, if you’re a freshman, you probably don’t have a car, and on-campus dining isn’t going to cut it as date material.
7. Schedules are an issue.
Finding a time when both of you are free and aren’t studying or going to a club meeting is next to impossible at a quarter system school. “I’m free Thursday from 1-4.” “Oh, sorry, I have a midterm then.”
8. Meeting people at parties isn’t really an option.
When meeting people at parties, beer goggles can take over and you may be surprised when you see them later thinking THAT’s what they actually look like? Or worse, they may not remember you the next day.
9. Living in close quarters can make it feel like a relationship is being broadcasted.
When you live in a dorm, or even in an apartment, everyone sees you with them and everyone gets into your business. Even the random guy down the hall who you’ve only seen once most likely knows.
Even with the struggles of trying to date in college, everyone knows that when you find the right person, it was totally worth all the bad dates you had to suffer through and all the annoying things that come with it.