Technically, college is “an institution of higher learning,” but within our own respective institutions of higher learning, college is so much more — crazy, hectic, exciting, sometimes repetitive, or even monotonous. No matter what words define your experience, they are most likely different from what you expected they would be. Being constantly surrounded by people, I’ll bet you never thought the word lonely would inch its way into your vocabulary.
If you’re like most college students, there have probably been times when you’ve cringed at that bitch posting disgustingly adorable couple pics every time you scroll through your Insta feed. We get it, he’s your Man Crush Monday every Monday. They just look so damn happy, and you find yourself asking why you haven’t found that yet. It makes you wonder if you actually deserve it.
Allow me to let you in on a little secret; you do. You do deserve to be happy, but sometimes it feels like every boy you meet is more interested in whether you’re DTF than whether you’d like to DTR, aka “define the relationship.” With all the various ways there are to stay connected today, we can hardly be blamed when there is a bit of confusion about just what this connection means. Despite the plethora of outlets we use to communicate, it seems more complicated than ever to do so effectively.
If this is true for you, here’s another tip; stop swiping through Tinder. Stop being so surprised and disappointed when that cute guy you meet at the bar never bothers to text you the next morning. “Oh, but my roommate’s best friend met her boyfriend through Tinder and they’re perfect together!”. I’m sure they are, but generally speaking, this isn’t the case. If you’re looking to find Mr. Right swiping through a hook up app, drunkenly at a bar, or dancing at a frat party, you might be looking in the wrong places.
You never know who you’ll meet if you really do put yourself out there, and I don’t mean by acting like a floozy or an attention whore every time a drop of alcohol finds its way into your perfectly glossed lips. Instead, try new things, discover what your interests are and cultivate them. Embrace the college experience because you only get to live it once.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So switch it up, and by all means, be insane, but by your own definition — not the dictionary’s. Don’t be afraid to take risks and talk to that guy down the hall or the one across from you in Spanish class you’ve been eyeing. Have a little faith, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find someone whose insanity and whose own personal definition of college matches perfectly with your own.
Featured Image via unsplash
