Whoa, a double header today. I must be feeling motivated.
Today was the 1st day of my 5th semester in college. Last year I never felt old. But, this year is different. There are people around me who look like they haven't hit puberty yet. People are holding maps and moving slowly and I'm thinking "Wow. I must be getting old. UMD doesn't seem like an ongoing, endless maze to me anymore."
But, every now and again I see a person who DOES look like they've hit puberty. In fact, I look again and they are kind of cute. And, then I look one more time and decide they are hot.
And, then I see the lanyard dangling from their neck and the map in hand.
Damn. Freshman.
Immediately, I continue on.
But, am I wrong for doing this? Should I give the poor (and very hot) guy a chance?
My advice about dating freshmen if you are a junior or above is one word: don't. Maybe you can get away with it if you're a sophomore but even then, the differences in mentality are enough to ruin any chance of a healthy relationship. Dating a freshman is either like dating your son or dating a rock star. They are either so sheltered and unaware of how this thing called college works that they will latch on to you and become your best friend and befriend all of YOUR friends because they are too lazy to find their own and you will have to teach them the ropes OR they want to try and be the big man on campus and hook up with as many girls as possible.
Maybe you will luck out and get the mature one.
But chances are, you won't.
And, even if you did get the mature one, I don't advise dating your freshman year of college. (I mean I don't even know how I feel about dating in college period but whatever...) Freshmen year is an experiment in everything college...the opposite sex, academia, the social scene, extracurriculars, etc. It's a time when you can be wild and it's excusable because you'll look back a year or two from now and say, "Remember that one time freshmen year...?" If you're a freshman and you sleep around, sure, you're still kind of gross, but hey, we chalk it up to freshmen year. If you're a senior and you sleep around, well then you're just gross.
So don't date freshmen year and don't date freshmen. Makes sense, right?
Love freely,
tY