College is a weird time. When it comes to love lives, young adults nowadays face some strange situations that the last generation can't understand. It's this "hook-up" culture that has been created. Some blame (or thank, whatever your perspective) advances in birth control, women's right to choice, and ever-changing social norms for this new style of engaging with possible partners.

It's hard to even describe someone as a partner in this culture because most of the time you are not cohesively working on a relationship together and, by definition, a partner is someone you work side by side with.

This whole idea is still so new, so as a college student I'm continually seeing people get hurt, lied to, cheated on, mislabeled, or used because there is no clear way of properly "hooking up" and detaching one’s feelings from getting mixed in.

Unless your hook up is a one night stand, the scenario usually plays out like this: two people meet (through a frat party, school activities, mutual friends, tinder, etc.) and exchange numbers or social media links. They hit each other up for about a week or so and then plan to "hang out." Emphasis on "hang out." This is not a date. That would require going out somewhere and being traditional.

What then happens is the two hang out in someone's dorm or apartment, and the rest I can leave to your imagination. Now, at this point, you decide if you want to keep talking to this person or not. For those who continue to communicate, you probably hang out a few more times and do exactly what you've done each time before. Soon, someone catches feelings.

This is where it gets tricky. The person with the feelings is left in a sea of thoughts. "Do they like me back?" "What if they don't?" "Do I tell them?" And so on. Eventually, the other person finds out, whether you told them or they figured it out. If you're in the lucky percentage of people who are liked back, that's great. But a majority of the time this is not the case.

I've seen too many cases of people who "hook up" and are left very hurt. They give themselves to someone thinking that the intentions were the same when all along the other person believed the situation to be different. Neither person is right or wrong in this situation, yet it is still terrible to see someone heartbroken. When it comes to this hook-up culture, I've seen more heartbreak than anything else.

So this is me extending my hand to the boy or girl out there who has faced, is facing, or will face this situation. It's awful and I'm so sorry that your heart hurts. I hope that you see that you're more valuable than someone has made you feel. Please do not close your heart off to people because the right person is out there for you. Let me forewarn you that not everyone has the same intentions as you, so remember to be open and honest about how you are feeling towards whoever you're involved with. You can save yourself some heartache with a little honesty.

For those of you who hook up with no strings attached, do whatever it is you want to do. I ask, though, that you respect those you are with. Remember they are people and that their feelings are real. If they catch feelings, don't make them feel bad about it. If your intentions are different, don't feel bad but please be honest. Try being honest from the beginning to avoid any drama or unnecessary trouble as the "thing" continues.

I assume that hooking up will remain a controversial subject. No one knows the right answers to how it should work. In knowing this, I ask you all to be honest with each other. How you choose to approach relationships in your life are your business but what they all have in common are that they will not work without honesty. Respect those that you find yourself involved with.