Can You *Really* Fall in Love in College?

My sleep schedule is horrendous. I have always been the late riser/night owl type, but it has gotten so much worse. My sleep tracking app gave me a notification yesterday to keep up my consistent sleep schedule of 5 AM to 1 PM. I’m not entirely sure how I felt about that because yay consistency, right? Either way, the point is I stay up way later than I probably should.

My therapist asked me what I do at that hour anyways. I told her I do some combination of watching Grey’s Anatomy and contemplating my many failed relationships.

She recommended for my own wellbeing that I resolve some of my stress so that I can get some sleep. I promptly reminded her that my mild trauma was my one source for humor, so I’d like to hold onto it just a little while longer.

Instead of dealing with my problems like a normal healthy adult, I again broadcasted them to the internet just to see what I could find out.

No one else would give me real answers about why my relationships weren’t working. I was forced to wonder if I was the problem or if my generation has just damned relationships in general. The answer was clearly both, but I wasn’t throwing in the towel that easily. I had to go to my reliable friend Instagram and get some real answers.

Instagram Polling:

Something about those anonymous polling questions makes people feel safe and honest. I know at least I love when people post polls on their stories. I’m a big fan of interactive activities and button pressing. I get a lot more interaction with my poll stories than anything else, everyone wants to have their voice heard. I say that to say my initial target demographic was people currently in college but I got everything from high school seniors who haven’t set foot on a college campus to my old boss with a few spam accounts in between.

Any in regard, I took it upon myself to ask the “tough” relationship questions about college.

Here's What I Needed to Know

1. Do you think high school relationships can last in college?

2. Are college relationships “true love” or “hookups”

3. Can you find love in college?

4. How much do you trust the gender you’re attracted to?

5. Would you ever cheat on someone?

6. Have you ever been cheated on?

7. Have you ever been “the other person”?

8. Any additional comments or stories?

In a lot of ways, some of my results were more or less inconclusive. I guess you can’t really predetermine the results of a survey or else you wouldn’t need to take the survey.

Stats about the potential of college relationships:

My Conclusions:

I feel as though I learned a lot about relationships, most of which I probably could have guessed but knowledge truly is power. I opted out of taking this survey myself but here are my answers and conclusions

1. Do I think high school relationships can last in college?

Given that mine did not, I’m going to say in general they don’t last. Personal biases included, I am an amazing girlfriend so if I can’t do it either my boyfriend at the time was terrible or I am wrong about my quality of “girlfriendship”. For those of you out there who do believe in high school sweethearts, I truly wish you the best. Couldn’t be me.

2. Are college relationships “true love” or “hookups”

I think it’s very rare to find a solid relationship in college. Most people I know and interact with are really only looking for immediate pleasure. Again, the final decision was too close to call either way but the majority of students agreed with me. If you do find your true love out there though please send me an invitation to your wedding

3. Can you find love in college?

Theoretically yes. Plenty of my associates agree that you can find love and it’s inspiring to me that so many of my peers are hopeful in this pursuit. I don’t think I ever will but I’m definitely rooting for those of you who are still looking. Stay hopeful! Being cynical is only good for dry humor and poor coping mechanisms!

4. How much do you trust the gender you’re attracted to?

This one was a real give or take. Kind of comes down to who you’re attracted to and your past experiences. If you ask me, I say never trust men! Women…on a case to case basis. I’ll let you decide for yourself.

5. Would you ever cheat on someone?

I have never cheated on anyone. Most people claim they would never cheat on someone. The number of people who have been cheated on however…

6. Have you ever been cheated on?

I have also never been cheated on. I’m sorry for those of you who have, you probably didn’t deserve it. I also think some of you out there were lying about if you would cheat or not. Those numbers are suspiciously skewed. That’s all I have to say about that.

7. Have you ever been “the other person”?

Although I asked a follow up question of if people knew that they were with someone who was in a relationship. Less than half of the people who had been the other person were aware that they were in the middle of a relationship.

8. Any additional comments or stories?

Overall, the consensus was if you want to pursue a relationship in college, trust and protect yourself first. My personal advice? It’s hard to trust people. Even when someone proves that you can trust them, they can just as easily break that trust.

So, protect your heart and maybe one day you’ll be one of the lucky ones that fines their forever.