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College relationships cause distractions for students
College relationships lose value while "friends with benefits" gains popularity

Sabrina Quinones, '14 | Staff Reporter

College opens the door for different kinds of new relationships. Challenges with roommate issues, casual dating, serious dating, friendship, and sex are all part of the college experience. “These various relationships can provide a great deal of comfort and support during your college years, but they can also be a source of confusion and stress at times,” according to SUNY Geneseo's Health and Counseling Web page. 

For a freshman, a serious love affair or “friends with benefits” relationship can distract you from your academics. Building a relationship with someone in college is not the wrong thing to do, but it all depends on who you become friends with who you are willing to be in a relationship with.

The excitement of dorm life in college comes from the fact that you will be on your own. No parents to tell you want to do; you make your own decisions on what you are going to do in life from now on. The main focus students should have is balancing out college academics and social activities.

Mariecarmelle Bernard, senior Business Administration major, says that Oct. 31 through March 1 is “Cuffing Season,” having a close friend to cuddle with and no strings attached.

Thomas McCabe, junior Criminal Justice student, says relationships are distractions to immature people. They tend to think about their independence, having good times, before focusing on their future. “In order to be in a relationship, you have to be a strong independent intelligent person in order to keep both balanced out,” he says. 

One of the most exciting aspects of being in college is the relationships you establish with the people around you. College relationships can give you the best or most difficult part of your college experiences depending on your own discretion, according to Articlesnatch.com.

Having that thought on your mind about who you are going to meet in college? Are they going to be nice to you or not? Are you going to have a crush? Are there going to be real intimacies happening? Questions tend to run through everyone’s mind before entering. The one thing that every student thinks about is the ideal of "hooking up" in college.

 

 

Photo illustration by Wendy Vair, '12 | Campus News Editor
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “the latest lie teenagers tell themselves is about having 'Friends with Benefits' which is the ability to have sex without the attendant drudgery of relationships," says Kathleen A. Bogle, author of "Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships On Campus."

Bernard notes that a college campus has more than its share of promiscuous people. It is a tempting environment, and that is one of the reasons why campus relationships tend to fail.

Hooking up is a means for experiencing casual sex encounters, but also starting a romantic relationship. Bogle says. Most women in college expect to have sort serious relationship in college, where on the other hand guys tend to think different. Men in college are less interested in committed relationships. This is where it gets confusing: Women put themselves in a position where women obviously want to be with a guy, but deep down they know he is not willing to be in a committed relationship. “Friends with benefits are the worst way to start off a relationship, especially when you want some sort of respect from him,” she says.

Gabriela Campos, a junior nursing student, says it depends how both men and women approach handling a relationship in order to avoid letting it interfere with school. “Having your properties set straight,” Having a relationship is one way of dealing with temptations. Understanding each other means communicating while being responsible for the decisions or choices you make, Campos says.

Being in a relationship on campus can sometimes lead to miscommunication due to all of the temptations around. The main distraction is when either the men or women tend to focus on the significant other, rather than academics. Not all people are like that in most cases, but they would turn into those people some way or another.

“You should always keep your priorities straight before settling down,” McCabe says. “Focusing on your academics, rather than focusing on the temptations that distract you around campus.”

According to Articlesnatch.com, There is a saying that a college relationship can either make you focused on academics--or break you.

“Jumping into a relationship as a freshman is a bad idea," says Rudy Regalado, a senior criminal justice student. "The main focus should be [on] their properties and experience.”