Dating in college is very different than dating in high school. There are no parents supervising you while watching TV on the basement couch, or having to go to the movies just to have some “alone time,” or starting relationships over an AIM chat. In college, it is a whole new ballgame. I’ve broken down each step of how a relationship progresses in college or breaks down into a mess. You can skip some steps or go through all of them. This is the general idea of how undergraduates go from being strangers in a dark bar to becoming exclusive in the daylight and how exes take a turn for the worst and become enemies.
Strangers.
In this stage, you have no idea who the hell each other is. This person you either met at the bar or in the basement of a loud party. You probably won’t remember their name.
Acquaintances.
You can recognize their face and put a name to it. You see them out at bars and will say “hi,” but that’s pretty much it. Keep this person around, it could possibly turn out to be one of those make outs on the dance floor at the bar or a “I’ll regret this in the morning" moments.
Facebook Friends.
You can spend a Sunday stalking their profile until you are either looking at pictures of them in grade school or on their mom’s, brother’s or 3rd cousin’s profile. You can also see what they are interested in or stalk all of their pledge brothers or sisters … keeping the options open. But don’t accidentally “like” one of their photos from 2008, which makes them creeped out and loses any chance of taking it to the next step.
Sexual Tension.
There’s finally that feeling where all you want to do is jump all over each other while you’re hanging out — and everyone knows it. All your friends notice that you blush or laugh a little extra hard at their jokes … even if they are lame.
Booty call.
Well, the sexual tension was finally released with that 2 a.m. text saying, “What’s up?” Which in the college world, stands for, do you want to come over to “hang out.” They are either gone before the sun comes up or wake up not remembering how they got there. This stage can either die out eventually or you receive or send out the text a little earlier in the night so you actually have time to talk. Lets hope for the best.
Hooking up.
You finally turned that late night booty call into a regular thing. You text on the reg and hook up sober (and after you go out). In other words, this would be the stage where you say you have a “thing.” Everything is so exciting and you just wait by the phone for the other person to respond. Every response is thought out and you ask your friends for advice if you should use “…” or an exclamation point.
Exclusive.
You’ve agreed to not hook up with anyone else, but you could hook up with someone else as long as they don’t find out — you’re still new to this. There are no titles, even though you both possibly like each other… it’s probably just a fear of commitment.
Dating.
You go on dates (hopefully to Chipotle and he pays) and you call each other your boyfriend or girlfriend. You talk all the time and check in with each other. You probably go out as a pair and spend time together just talking and getting to know the other person. Things are still new, but you both enjoy spending time together in every way.
Facebook Official.
Whelp, it’s finally official. This “lifetime event” gets tons of likes and comments saying “congrats! LOVE you two!!!!!!” It’s finally time to let everyone know that you are in a relationship … including your high school ex who broke up with you.
Fading Relationship.
Your relationship is turning into routine that makes it boring and not exciting. You feel like it’s a chore and you are maybe even feeling suffocated. But breaking up is a hard thing to do, which means that you are single again and have to repeat this process again.
“Friendly” Exes.
You decide after a few failed hook ups with other people that you want to be friends because you still “care” and “miss” each other. But you’re a little too friendly. You get back into the swing of things and think that things are different now … but probably not, he still thinks sitting on the couch and ordering Domino's is a date.
Enemies.
One of you hooked up with another person, but you are still holding on to the fact that you might get back together. But this turns into cutting off all communication, telling everyone the other person is the worst, and glaring at each other from across the bar or at a party. Let's just say things are different now … you both hate each other. Moral of being exes: just end it and don’t look back.
Whether it turns out for the best and you're setting a wedding date, or for the worst and you wrote a page for him in your burn book, dating in college is a fun and exciting process. You can either go straight from strangers to hooking up or repeating the process of being friendly exes and enemies. Everything is up in the air.
