Mmm, the campus cuties. With Justin Bieber hair, great credentials and eyes that make you feel like your sailing the ocean blue, the campus cuties reside on the one of the main sections of HerCampus.com – always staring back at the screen and straight into our melting hearts. If only the Her Campus logo wasn’t actually on top of the page and the buzz of our laptops weren’t in the background. If only Rick Vavolizza or James Scotton was actually sitting across from you. If only.
The other day I was sitting around with a group of my girl friends scrolling through the Her Campus campus cuties (just admit it, we all do it). After the normal squealing and giggles had subsided my friends started to joke, “So where can I find one?” and “seriously, where are all these guys?” My initial answer was, “I have no freaking idea.”
However, after a while I came to the conclusion we are constantly surrounded by guys that we gawk over on the site – it is just about knowing what to look for.
So, what makes a campus cutie so stinkin’ cute?
1. “Seriously? It’s like you’re Photoshopped!”
We all remember the moment in Crazy Stupid Love where Ryan Gosling first takes his shirt off and Emma Stone’s character throws out an expletive or two in awe of his perfectly sculpted body. I mean, honestly, it would be physically impossible to forget that moment. But as much as I hate to admit it, there is a rare proportion of the population that will ever reach Ryan Gosling’s status of good looks. Very few guys will actually be as dreamy as the cut-out of the Abercrombie and Fitch model hanging above your bed (even though, from what I hear we do have an Abercrombie model somewhere around our campus). You probably don’t look like a Victoria Secret model either.
The reality is that sometimes the most attractive people have quirks. I truly believe that imperfections create beauty. In no way am I implying that the campus cuties are odd or funny looking. I’m just saying that part of the attractiveness stems from the fact that they are real people. Not all guys can have Tim Palmer’s abs. All jokes aside, it’s refreshing to see genuinely good-looking guys that aren’t glossed over on the side of your magazine or posing on your TV like a Calvin Klein model.
2. Put away the telescope.
After complaining to one of my guy friends the other day about my lack of dates for my sorority functions, he asked, “Are you looking for a guy, Becky? If so, you’ll never find one.” Who knew that such a stroke of wisdom lay in the mind of a 21-year-old college guy. But this friend, who at the time was stuffing his face with an oversized cheeseburger and French fries, was so right.
Part of the appeal of the campus cuties is that they are accessible. Half the excitement of finding the newest campus cutie is that he is always and forever embedded in HTML on your computer screen. The trick to finding your very own campus cutie is to stop looking! I know this seems counterintuitive. It’s so much more fun to meet a guy and actually hit it off when you’re not sitting around praying to a higher power that you’ll meet your Prince Charming. So, put away the telescope. Stop searching. And, who knows, maybe you’ll meet your very own campus cutie sooner than you think.
3. “I knew guys secretly liked The Notebook…”
My favorite part of reading the campus cuties is reading a quote from a guy – who’s most likely being interviewed for something like this for the first time – and seeing something written that’s almost embarrassing, but so honest that it’s actually the cutest thing in the world. Somehow the campus cuties always show their sensitive side during their interview. You can see almost this totally attractive, cute guy blush and laugh just a little as he reveals a piece of his soul to the female population.
I’m half joking, but the campus cuties are smart, motivated guys who are all totally date-able. I seriously doubt that the guys listed under the campus cuties sit around all night playing World of War Craft while leaving the books (and their brains) to fry away. I think this revelation says something positive about what makes the campus cuties more attractive: they have ammo. Motivation. A little drive that shows us that they don’t just want a sugar momma.
It’s simple, brains are hot. So is honesty. Girls melt when guys admit that they like to hang out with their family, do charity work and sometimes even take long walks on the beach. Keep the honesty coming guys – you’re melting hearts like Barnes makes buckets.
4. Welcome to the jungle
I am about to let you in on secret girl knowledge: think Pentagon Papers meets Bergdorfs and you’ll understand how valuable this information is. One of the reasons the campus cuties appear so desirable is because other girls believe they are desirable. Think about it. A guy has to be spotted by one of our staffers and strike enough attention out of the thousands of boys that attend this school to be put on our website. There must be something special about him. I have no doubt that there is. I also know that girls automatically think a guy is more attractive when the people around her start noticing him too.
Have you ever been at a party and a guy starts to hit on you and your first thoughts are, ‘not interested’? But then, you’re friends start to tell you how cute, smart and incredible this guy is. Two seconds later, you start to doubt yourself. Maybe he’s not so bad. And all of a sudden, you’re feeling protective of your ‘almost’ man, and you want him back. True story, I promise it happens.
We absolutely adore our campus cuties. They’re always faithful (well, they’ll always be on hercampus.com), entertaining and definitely not hard to look at. Who said there were no boys at UNC?!?!?!?!