If Elvis Presley persists as the King of Rock N’ Roll and Shirley Temple takes the cake for America’s Sweetheart, then my cutesy-fun nickname must be Queen of Questionable Judgement, or perhaps, Baroness of Bad Timing.
To clarify, the tragic tales behind my unsuccessful love life consist of being cheated on by an arrogant D-1 athlete (with FOUR girls, I might add), stupidly staying with a boyfriend that put more effort into binge-watching TV shows than our relationship and maintaining an on-again, off-again romance with an emotionally-manipulative basement DJ—and we’re just scratching the surface.
Though these experiences turned my heart towards a more guarded approach to love, my most influential mishaps were the cruelest cases of them all: Meeting the right person—at the wrong time. Finding genuine romantic connections amid today’s non-committal culture is no easy feat, and I often hear close friends remark, Where am I supposed to meet someone if everyone is already taken or uninterested in a relationship? If you find yourself asking the same question, look no further. HC at UCLA surveyed dozens of couples on their meet-cute memories to gather insight for Ready-To-Mingle-Singles on how and/or where to find their next partner. So, what’re you waiting for? Keep scrolling and check out our findings:
- Mutual friends
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Coming in at #1, we have the most promising path to romance: MUTUAL FRIENDS! Heather and Katy attested to finding partners through friends, with the latter actually meeting her BF when he was her BFF’S PROM DATE (they were only friends people, calm yourselves).
No harm in sowing the seeds of plants you’d like to reap later. Drop subtle hints to your friends, classmates, neighbors, roommates, teammates and local baristas: You are very single and most definitely ready to mingle. Everybody knows somebody, but maybe that “somebody” is the one for you!
- School/work
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Sure, school may feel like a miserable prison cell you’re forced into five days a week, but it’s still good for college students looking for love.
Sit next to the cute person in class, choose electives in majors with stupid hot students (What’re we thinking here? Business? Pre-Law?) and take advantage of highly-populated school events. This might be the last time you’ll be around hordes of people your age, so start searching!
Side Note: If you’re already graduated, the workplace poses a wonderful opportunity to make romantic connections, just make sure you’re not breaking any rules. (Your life is not a 2000s rom-com, it would still be VERY devastating to lose your job for love. Let’s not romanticize tragedy, babe).
- Dating-Apps/Online
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16% of HC at UCLA’s respondents shared that their long-term romances began online of all places, with Tinder, Bumble and Hinge ranking among the most successful dating platforms for these young adults.
Not having any luck on those apps? Don’t worry! Dylan met his partner on Monét, the doodle-based dating app for artists, while several other surveyors found success in DM slides on Twitter, Discord and GroupMe. So, don’t give up hope on that virtual crush you’ve been harboring since Week 1 of Winter Quarter. Go for it!
- Gym
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This suggestion comes to you with a very bright, NEON YELLOW warning label: DO NOT BE CREEPY IF YOU FLIRT WITH SOMEONE AT THE GYM!
Sure, there are plenty of people to chat up when you’re working out, but avoid some of the common red flags if you want to see success in your pursuits (i.e. aggressive staring, following around the weight-room, interrupting sets, etc…).
- hobbies
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To no one’s surprise, the easiest way to find a suitable match is to search among people that share the same hobbies and interests (25% of students wrote of meeting their S.O.s in on-campus organizations).
School functions not for you? Well, how about traveling? Julianna recounted her Hallmark-worthy meet-cute, saying, “I met my boyfriend on our high school Europe trip. He was part of the popular crowd, so we had [completely] different social groups. We knew of each other but had never [spoken] a word…until the Europe trip. We had fun in Spain, but fell in love in Paris.”
- Apartment/dorm
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The sheer number of surveys returned with variations of the answer, “Lived on the same dorm floor,” was astonishing in-and-of itself, so maybe you should start participating in those weekly dorm events no one ever goes to!
But if you don’t live in the dorms, never fear! Apartment buildings are another breeding ground for accidental meet-cutes among college students. You never know who you’ll meet while riding the elevator, taking out the trash or leaving for class (SO romantic, right?).
Society’s go-to relationship advice encourages singles to stop looking for love since that is when love will inevitably find them, but I’m not sure if I entirely agree with this sentiment.
Should you go to a bar and throw yourself at every good-looking person in your vicinity? Should you swipe right on matches you aren’t really interested in because you’d rather lower your standards than be alone a little longer? No, a thousand times no. What we all need is to get ourselves into the right headspace for reentering the dating world—we need to love ourselves fully, acknowledge the possibility of getting hurt and maintain the standards and boundaries we desire in a committed relationship.
Real love is worth waiting for, so don’t sell yourself short. The One is out there, you just have to put yourself in the position to find them.