Hello everyone, here comes some sappy stuff. As my freshman year comes to a close I've started to reflect on all the fun times I've had at good-ole West Chester University. There were crazy nights out, fun pizza nights, long nights at the lib and every weird situation you can think of in between. One of these many good times included acquiring myself a boyfriend. One of the classic pieces of advice you get when you go to college is along the lines of whatever you do DON'T get a boyfriend. I obviously did not take this advice, I didn't even think the chance would come that I could have a boyfriend. My longest past relationships were three months (and that might be giving it too much credit).This image all came crashing down when I met my special boy a few months into school. I resisted entering a relationship for awhile, and had some scares of ending the fling we were starting, but looking back at my freshman year I realized I wouldn't change a thing.
Of course there are many viable arguments about entering into a relationship your first year away from home! Before coming to school I agreed with every one of the clichés empowering girls to be on their own. I'll admit that for most girls this is definitely good advice. Entering college with two short relationships under my belt, I wasn't worried about looking for a boyfriend, I was looking for my girl group. As it was, I knew nobody when I came to West Chester, so I was worried about finding a good squad to be able to stick with for, hopefully, the next four years. Luckily I did! It wasn't until months later that boys started being intriguing to me here, it was all about hanging out and making friends. I wouldn't even say it was 'boys' in general, but more like one boy in particular.
This one boy came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting to like-like anyone my freshman year! That was like the number three thing you aren't supposed to do your freshman year! (Number one being don't get arrested and number two being don't fail a class-- spoiler I did do one of these but I won't say which.) I resisted this relationship because of this and because of my comfort with the single life style. After all has been said and done, I regret resisting it because it just caused problems between me and one of my new best friends, and yes I'm referring to my boyfriend.
Even though I broke one of the top three rules of freshman year, I have absolutely no regrets with my decision regarding my amazing boyfriend. I got so lucky to meet him and lucky that I didn't end things in fear of a cliché. Clichés are clichés for a reason. They're too generalized. It truly depends on the specific situation. Some girls can't handle juggling finding new best friends and having a boyfriend, but there can be a balance. With all the time we have in college (that isn't spent studying of course) there is no excuse to get too wrapped up in one person and forget the rest of the amazing people you've met in college. So my advice for any incoming freshman is to not even think about boyfriends, whether it's avoiding them or attracting them. Freshman year is crazy without actively seeking out a boyfriend, so why bother. Let them come to you, and when they do embrace it (with balance) because chances are if the guy is as great as mine you will not be disappointed.
