"So how did you guys meet?"

"Oh we met on Tinder."

Is a conversation that I have partaken in a number of times. And each of those times the response was laughter, so I then had to continue on by making jokes about being super liked and swiping right and how everything became a Tinderella story from there. However, if people viewed Tinder as an app that allows you to "discover new and interesting people nearby" instead of as a hook up app then the responses would be so different.

Prior to these past seven months I viewed Tinder with the same stereotype. I would swipe left and right while trying to fall asleep all while thinking in the back of my head that what these guys really wanted was to hook up. While the complimentary messages were good for my ego, the invitations to "hang out" were always in bad taste and that is when I would fall off the grid. The whole idea made me uncomfortable, but again the attention was nice.

But then something completely different happened. I talked to someone on Tinder all night and the next morning I wanted to talk to him again. Pretty soon I told my friends that I was going to hang out with some guy I met on Tinder (Just to be clear the hang out was G rated). They all laughed. But now that guy I met on Tinder is the guy that I have been seeing for the past seven months.

I honestly don't believe my own story myself and I think back to the beginning and laugh at how crazy it is, but my experience has also completely changed my idea of what the Tinder app is. Tinder allows you to meet people that you probably would have never met before without it. The 21st Century is so technology based that it makes sense to utilize that technology to broaden your horizons and meet new people. I'm not trying to convince you that the majority of guys on Tinder are not just looking for a fun night because let's be real a lot are; especially if you're swiping on a college campus. But that doesn't mean that every guy on Tinder is. It's unfortunate that the app has become the go to hook up app when so many other relationships are possible from it.

Which is why I want to get rid of the Tinder stereotype. I don't want it to become a dating app and I don't want to take away the beloved hook up aspect of it, but I want people to view it as the owners designed it. A way to discover new and interesting people nearby. I want to be able to tell people that I met the guy I'm seeing from Tinder without getting laughs, knowing looks, or shocked expressions. Because there is nothing funny or embarrassing about having someone that makes me happy everyday.