Doesn’t dating in college sound amazing? Studying, going out and maneuvering around campus with your loved one.
Well, guess again. Dating in college adds many struggles that couples in the adult world do not have to go through. According to a 2011 survey, 28% of graduates met their spouses in college, so it is always worth a shot.
“That’s nearly one-in-three,” says Meg Leigh, a journalist for the Pew Research Center.
Living in the world of social media and technology, it is easy to connect with people as well as keep tabs on people. One thing that most couples have to overcome is trying to figure out when the right time to go public is. It’s just Instagram, what is the big deal? For college kids, the answer is everything.
It is best to establish a strong connection before letting the world of social media know about your relationship because it opens the door for many problems. In a blink of an eye, former lovers, jealous people, and home wreckers will all be aware of the current relationship status and will have the option of whether or not to interfere.
In college you are surrounded by people in their late teens or early 20s. Young adults tend to make more irrational decisions when they are on a mission to find themselves and have fun.
Many students have a “college experience” mindset. In other words, a lot of students want to live their best life before they get into the real world. As a result, college can put students in a constant party setting. With many people with the same mindset surrounding a relationship, this can allow for careless decisions and influences.
“When we switch off normal mode and put on the party suit, we free ourselves from context and break out of a mold. Suddenly, the contextual environment that keeps our typical habits churning is gone,” said Tom Giles, a psycho-linguistic student at University of York.
The excessive amount of responsibilities is another struggle of a college relationship. Balancing student life with work life, social life and love life can get stressful. Most students will prioritize student and work life over every other category. Relationships make it easy to fall behind on responsibilities because of the time it takes to maintain one.
“College students prefer short-term, casual relationships over long-term relationships because it allows them to focus on their academic and career goals,” Heather Fishel wrote in a blog, “7 Surprising College Dating Statistics.”
Dating in college may have more struggles than the adult relationship, but that does not mean it is not worth giving a chance. As long as both individuals have an understanding of priorities and trust, is it possible to persevere through any obstacle.