You know how every time you get home for a break, or even just a random weekend, at least one person always asks "So, are you seeing anyone?" They're not asking because they want to date you. No, they're asking because they want to know if anyone has been brave enough to ask you out yet. That has been my life for the past four years. As a fifth year senior, I've got an extra dose of that.

In case you haven't figured it out, no. I'm not seeing anyone. I haven't in quite some time. But that's okay. You don't have to be dating someone to have a healthy college life. You don't have to find that special someone while you're at school. There is no deadline.

I didn't go to college just to find someone. I came here to get a degree, to be better equipped for the role in life God has called me to. If I meet someone along the way, so be it. However, not everyone thinks that way.

Here at Huntington University, you notice a pattern. The first half of the Fall semester is Freshman Dating Season, in which a bunch of the new freshmen date each other then break up over Thanksgiving Break. It happens every year. Some people, like me, avoid that like the plague. Others get lucky and actually find their future spouse during Freshman Dating Season. Others, and this is the majority of those who get swept up, get dropped by their would-be loved ones like a cold turkey on Thanksgiving.

Once Freshman Dating Season is over, you start to see relationships form that are a bit longer lasting. Many of these work out, many don't. It really just depends on the lucky couple. Usually, and I mean usually not always, if you find your future spouse at college, you know by the end of sophomore year. By the time junior year rolls around, you know if it hasn't happened, it probably won't.

Among those single souls, you see many different reactions. Some accept their fate. Others are still pinning after a sought after relationship that will never happen. It's gotten to a point where people just assume that you go to college, get a degree, get married, and live happily ever after. Oh yeah, and you met that special someone at school.

It's time to end the fairy tail.

Wake up and smell the coffee. There is no deadline. You don't have to have a boyfriend to finish college. You don't have to be in a relationship to be a complete person. If you already have that relationship, good for you. I mean that and am not being sarcastic. It's just a different step in life. No two people live the same exact life. Everyone has their own reactions, different backgrounds, different stages in life.

People get caught up in things like Freshman Dating Season because they think they have to find someone before they leave school. That is a complete lie. We're still figuring out who we're supposed to be while we're in college. Those who are lucky enough to be in a long-lasting relationship, get to figure that out together. But that doesn't have to be you.

You don't magically start being you because you're in a relationship. If anything, being single is the best time to figure out who you are, who you want to be. You don't have to worry about the welfare of another individual. If you're like me, you probably will anyway, but you don't have to.

Have fun. Be yourself. If someone comes along, great. If not, you just have more time to be you. Learn to be happy with yourself. Sometimes that's easier said than, done, but it's still important. It's time you stop waiting on someone else to take care of you. Treat yourself. Most of all, just be you.

So here's to another year of people asking about your dating status. We're all in this together.