Isn’t it strange that practically nobody dates in college? Before all of you BC couples throw up your hands in disagreement, I would like to calmly tell you that you are by far in the minority on this campus. For the majority of the BC population, “dating” in college involves meeting someone for the first time at a party, getting their number, and drunkenly meeting up with them at another party in the next few weekends. Quite romantic, right? There is nothing quite as perfect as shots of Ruby with your future spouse in an overcrowded Mod with a bunch of freshmen.
Why is it that college and dating are about as compatible as vinegar and oil? What ever happened to the old fashioned “take your date out to dinner and a movie” idea? I’ll tell you: it’s exactly what @BCMakeouts was made for, it’s exactly what you see every weekend in those same Mods, it’s what has redefined the social scene of college: The Hook-up Culture. The ideology takes over the majority of us the second we get to college: the idea that a random hook-up (however you define the word ‘hook-up’) somehow fulfills the same hole where we desire love and affection from another. The phrase “being in college” is used for a ton of excuses: like wearing sweatpants 24/7, drinking heavily, and pulling all-nighters. But when did “random hook-ups and lack of a dating scene” get added to the list?
We somehow, as a generation, have forgot what it means to date. The Hook-up Culture has made dating almost taboo on campus, as if it is one of those things that people have heard of but never dare to actually do. I can’t help but wonder about the repercussions of this behavior once we have graduated college and moved on to the “real world”. Random hook-ups at bars in my mid-20’s doesn’t exactly sound like the best way to meet my soul mate. But let’s face it, we are on that projection since little to none of us have had real experience dating in college. It seems like the closest idea we have to a “date” is inviting someone to a club or sports team’s formal. Not exactly the first date most of us all picture when we think about dating in college, right?
So how do we tackle this problem? How do we overcome a generational-issue that has taken over college campuses across the country? How do we begin to see each other as more than just a physical object to hook up with on the weekend, and instead as a person with personality, soul, and a story to fall in love with? I can tell you one thing for sure: it starts with the smartphones. Putting down the phone and asking someone to dinner, or to get coffee, or anywhere where we remove the tiny screen between us as a form of communication. We need to stop being lazy and drop the bad dating habits (if you can even call them that) if we truly want to find “The One”. Perhaps once we drop kick these terrible behaviors that have so greatly plagued our dating experience in college, we can enter the real world, remove the heartless exterior that has defined us for so long, and find what we have been looking for all along. It starts with you. So for that girl or guy you’ve been crushing on for weeks now, find the guts. Ask them on a date and stop the ridiculous cycle that is the Hook-up Culture.
Photo Sources:
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/hua_hsu/berlatsky_brokenheart_post.jpg
http://cdn29.elitedaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/4890078101_3303ab7fae_b.jpg