Contents:
Depending on your college environment, dating culture can vary among campuses. For example, you might be really into the idea of hooking up with someone who lives on the same floor as you.
People who have grown up all over the world congregate in one central location: The diverse environments that colleges offer make it easy to date different types of people. You can learn as much from them as they can learn from you—communicate! In high school, you probably lived in the same town as your SO.
The population is not nearly as diverse as a college population. If you find yourself dating someone who grew up in a different culture, the most important thing you can do for them is to respect the ways they are different from you. Converse with them open-mindedly. Ask them about their hometown.
Tell them about yours. School, works, clubs—college is a balancing act that takes time to get used to. If you decide to start dating amidst the rest of your responsibilities, make sure you take the time to really know the person. As mentioned before, they may come from a different city or culture.
Advice from students who've dated in college and survived. So, we asked people to tell us the solid dating lessons they learned and advice they heard when they first started dating. They may have had to.
Relationships—maybe even finding your future spouse—are perks, but not what college is all about. Let hookups and relationships be second-string. I wish I had realized that my own happiness was and is far more important than conforming to social norms or concerns about what others might think. However, friends keep you sane when your partner is driving you crazy.
Also, if something goes wrong, you'll need your core group of friends to hold you up and be there for you. While you can't avoid your friends, you can't include them in every aspect of your relationship.
Show face as often as you can without being that girl that everyone expects to run into. Anonymous How do I make her understand that I have no intentions of getting married? College dating is a much different ballpark than what we all knew in high school. February 14, May 15, There is a reason those ended, and if all you ever do is talk about all the nice things your ex did, your current significant other will probably either feel inadequate or annoyed.
Having middle men and friends that like to interfere 'help' only makes problems worse. High schools are full of rumors and drama - don't get sucked into arguments caused by something a friend of a friend might have seen.
Whether you're 15 or 55, keeping open communication with the person you're dating is absolutely essential. Most of bad break-ups and horrible fights of high school dating could have been avoided if the couple had made an effort to talk to one another about problems instead of jumping to conclusions. Don't push your boundaries, and don't let anyone else cross them. If you don't know what the boundaries are in your relationship, establish them before you end up in an uncomfortable situation.
Once you know your boundaries, demand that they be respected.
Remember - boundaries aren't just physical. Sometimes the strongest boundaries are mental, or emotional. Remember that after high school, life changes dramatically.
That's not to say that you can't form a lasting relationship at a young age, it just means that you need to be ready for long distance and a whole new set of problems as an adult. Each time you look at your diploma, remember that you are still a student, still learning how to best treasure your connection to others. Pick up the phone. Get a life in which you are generous. Look around at the azaleas in the suburban neighborhood where you grew up; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black, black sky on a cold night.
And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Once in a while take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister.