Her Cocktail, His Beer

Her Cocktail – Danica Ceballos

College relationships are hard, even if you’re in an amazing one. If the couple is perfectly content with their relationship, who’s to say that the roommate or the best friend is happy with the way the two are handling their interactions. It seems that in college, the relationship extends much further than two people.

Of all my friends, I can only think of two couples in exclusive relationships at Fairfield. While the statistics vary from school to school, I have some ideas as to why Fairfield’s dating culture is the way it is.

Most guys at Fairfield fit into one of five categories. While not all heterosexual men at Fairfield find themselves solely living out one of these stereotypes, for sake of argument, here are my thoughts.

We all know that Fairfield is known for its hook-up culture. The guys that take part in these activities every weekend will be called the “player”. This type of guy is not interested in any kind of relationship. He likes to have a good time drinking with his friends and finding a girl to hook up with, no strings attached. These guys are emotionally unattached and just trying to live up the college experience.

Next we have the “dater”. This type of guy is serious boyfriend material. He gets to know girls on a personal level and seems genuinely interested. But, as he becomes more comfortable with her and closer to a relationship, he backs out. This guy only dates girls but is afraid of commitment.

In addition to these two types of non-boyfriends, there are three other types of guys that do get into relationships…but it isn’t as peachy as it sounds.

First, we have the “ladies’ man”. With a wandering eye, this Fairfield guy is a flirt without shame. Even with a girlfriend, the ladies’ man is always a little too friendly with other women. Though he might come off as a great boyfriend, as the relationship continues, his true colors shine brightly.

Next we’ve got the “mama’s boy”. This guy’s heart will always be in his hometown. His family has much say in his school life, no matter how much he denies it. If his mother doesn’t approve of his true love, she’s done for.

Last is the hopeless romantic. You know that couple in the library canoodling or those two lovebirds holding hands at the stir-fry station? This is the type of guy I’m talking about. He’s with his girlfriend and her friends 95 percent of the time and should probably work on improving his own social life.

These five types of guys make dating pretty complicated and very emotionally draining.

From my amateur analysis, it seems that the “open relationship” is the most common at Fairfield and has been gaining popularity since the beginning of the school year. With freshmen leaving their hometown relationships to seniors wanting to keep their options open, this type of relationship is the most convenient and realistic.

But what exactly is an open relationship? Basically, the couple does not define themselves by common relationship standards. Rather, they set their own rules and adapt them according to their feelings and experiences.

Regardless of my opinion on the topic of Fairfield relationships, the statistic that 60 percent of Fairfield students will find their spouse here is still a daunting reality for all students. So, I guess Fairfield guys are doing something right.

With all of this speculation of Fairfield relationships set aside, everyone, girl or guy, will always have “the one” in the back of their mind. Whether it’s their high school sweetheart, their best friend, the cutie across the room in your calc class or that basketball player that you cheer for from afar, the one you’re meant to be with is always on your mind, and if they’re lucky, in your heart.

His Beer – Dylan Dembin

Relationships. College. Are you sure those two can go together in one sentence?

These days, college is known as the land of the hookup and the one-night stand. Is there really room to fit a legitimate relationship into a college environment?

I would say that the vast majority of the people I’ve talked to have consistently said the hookup culture is really the only way to go about raging through your college years.

I won’t lie; the advice that is always given (and I’ve given myself) is to go to college with an open mind and a Facebook relationship status that says “single.”

If you’re the high school sweetheart type, all power to you, but the sad reality is that most previous relationships don’t make it past the first semester. The same goes for relationships formed in college.

I remember the first week of freshman year, and the mad rush of everyone to get batched up with someone before all the good ones were taken. There was a good deal of “relationships” that started in these first couple months of school.

I feel safe saying that none of these lasted longer than the beginning of the second semester.

From my experience, I’ve learned to take things one day at a time. In the land of college, you can’t keep your hopes or expectations too high. I’m not trying to say there is no such thing as finding someone “special,” but there are just a lot of other factors that play into it.

The reality is that if you keep your hopes high, you’ll probably end up being disappointed. If you wake up every day and know you’re just going to be ok with whatever happens, it’s pretty hard to be let down.

There really are so many things going on in college, and focusing on just one of the many can be a real trip sometimes. If you’re anything like me and have trouble just keeping track of where all your socks are, how are you going to focus on another person?

If I were to give advice to anyone coming into college right now, I would tell them two things.

One is that you should really get used to college life in general before getting into something like a relationship. This is what everyone says about joining clubs, and those are definitely less of a time commitment than a relationship.

On the same hand, I would also say that if you really feel like you can have a relaxed relationship that will make your friends jealous, then go for it. You always just have to remember that it should fit into what you’re doing already.

Take a step back and think about what you really do on a daily basis. You have class, work, friends, meals and parties. You’re pretty important, and you have to make time for numero uno.

I would never take a class if I thought it would take over other aspects of my life; so just think about this before you sign up for a relationship. Trust me, it’s tougher than calc 170.

So, when you’re talking about going from “single” to “in a relationship,” choose wisely, my friends. There’s nothing wrong with dating someone, but you better be sure it doesn’t become overwhelming, because it definitely can.