People tell me every day “You are too young to be in a relationship,” “Why are you tying yourself down at such a young age,” and my personal favorite “You guys probably won’t work out anyway, but that’s alright because there are plenty of fish in the sea!” This are all different variations of the same phrase. These phrases are saying I am in college why should I be in a relationship? Shouldn’t I be out there having fun? The answer to that question is yes, I am in college and I have a boyfriend, and I am having the time of my life. I am young but I think I am better at being in a relationship than most of middle age population. I think young people can be more in love and happier than people truly expect.
Having a boyfriend in college means that I always have someone to hang out with. It means I never have to go see a movie by myself or spend my Fridays alone binge eating ice cream. Instead I have someone I binge eat ice cream with and someone I can always fall back on. Having a boyfriend in college means that instead of worrying about classes and internships by myself I have someone to worry with, someone to talk to, and someone who understands where I am coming from. People say that having a boyfriend means that you won’t get the most out of college, you won’t get the “college experience.” I don’t want whatever the “college experience” if it means going out and getting drunk and stumbling home with a different guy every night. I don’t want the “college experience” if that means I can’t sit at my apartment with my boyfriend when I am tired and play scrabble all night because neither of us feel like going out. I don’t want the “college experience” if that means I can’t have a boyfriend in college because having a boyfriend in college has made my college experience better than I could have imagined it would ever be.
Having a boyfriend in college has pushed me to be a better version of myself. It has pushed me to make the most out of every situation. Having a boyfriend in college means I have someone to study with when I don’t feel like doing it alone.
It is not bad to be single in college, it is not bad to want to be single. I have just chosen not to be and I don’t think I deserve to be criticized for that. I don’t think anyone should be criticized for having significant other in college. Just because they are “too young” or because “they aren’t making the most of college,” because even though it may not be the “college experience” everyone talks about it is an experience I wouldn’t want to trade for anything.
