Editor’s note: This week’s
attention!! column was written
by Tiffany McKee, a
sophomore biochemistry
major. Tiffany said she was
prompted to submit this
column after reading last
week’s attention!! page.
Don’t panic!
Okay, so you see them
walking together all over
campus. Arm in arm, hand in
hand, staring deeply into one
another’s eyes (barely missing
a collision with a hurried
bicyclist) ... in love ... on
cloud nine. Well, its all a show
— a farce. A simple put-on that
somehow manages to create a
panic among the majority of
the single college students in
this world.
The worries begin and
continue for quite some time.
Then the rationalizing begins:
“All right, I guess I can do
without the plastic bride and
groom figurine that I so
carefully reserved a place for
on top of the fridge...” or “It’s
gonna be okay, I’ll have the
neighborhood kids to sit down
with and reveal my crazy
college experiences to ...” or
“I can always babysit my
brother’s newborn baby...”
Well, don’t panic, those
“serious” college relationships
really aren’t all they are
cracked up to be. Please, let
me put your minds at ease.
You’ve been living a dream.
You are the happiest you have
ever been in your whole life,
ever. You’ve been waking up
thinking about HIM. The
phone rings at 6:30 a.m. (you
grumble obscenities as you v
stumble to answer it) but, it’s
no bother, because it’s HIM...
“I just wanted to tell you how
much I love you before you
begin your day. ”
You float through your
morning routine. You get to
campus and walk to class with
one eye subconsciously (well,
consciously) searching for HIM.
You meet HIM for lunch and
are 10 minutes late to class —
because you didn’t want to
leave HIM. You rush home
from afternoon classes to cook
dinner for HIM, willingly. HE
comes over and swears HE has
to leave by 11 p.m. tonight —
HE has been late to all HIS 8
o’clocks this week — but, as
usual, the goodbyes don’t end
until after 12:30 a.m. Things go
on like this for weeks. And it’s
beautiful. Seriously, it really is.
OH! — the weekends are
fantastic. You anxiously await
those sacred Friday and
Saturday nights, watching the
clock in all your classes
continuously — beginning
Thursday afternoon and going
on through Friday afternoon.
You might as well forget those
Friday afternoon Math 152
lectures. As far as you’re
concerned, they don’t exist.
And the weekends are not a
disappointment. HE takes you
out to dinner, to the movies,
dancing. You share bottles of
wine together over romantic
conversations . . . “Someday,
when we get married...” Your
family members think that you
have disowned them. You
haven’t spent a weekend in
your hometown in weeks.
Well, the days turn into weeks
and the two of you are flying
high.
And then, the infamous “six-
week crisis.” You get back the
grades from your second round
of tests. Both of you rationalize,
saying the sharp grade dive is
not due to “the relationship. ”
The first fight usually occurs
about now—“You don’t really
love me. You’re just like all the
rest. ” And “Why didn’t you call
- last night? You call every
night.” (The nightly visits had
to stop.) But, you endure. You
are in love for real.
Unfortunately, and most
girls will not dispute this (sorry
guys), the efforts to impress the
Chosen One usually diminish
after the second month of
wonderfulness. Instead of
nights spent wining and dining
you, the finances call for nights
spent watching VCR movies
and eating popcorn. The bottle
of wine has turned into a bottle
of Chek Cola, and the romantic
conversation usually centers
around “the calculus exam I
have to ace to save my grade”
and “the three chapters of
physics that I have to do by
Monday. ” You spend Saturday
night studying (actually
studying) together. Oh well,
time to face reality.
Oh — about always having a
date for formal events: Really,
it’s not that great. After seeing
HIM in the same tux HE wore
at the last four formals you
have been to, the thrill slowly
decreases. And there’s you —
having the best formal you own
dry cleaned bimonthly gets
pretty expensive. You have
enough pictures of the two of
you in formal attire to last until
your grandchildren go to their
senior proms.
But, you are in love. You
would be miserable without
each other. You go everywhere
TITLE:
Experiment #27
ARTIST:
GOD
MEDIA:
Molecules On Void
together, you know each other
like the back of your hands,
and you are members of the
same organizations. Besides,
HE is the only friend you have
nowadays. But, really, it’s
okay.
Some people enjoy
spending their college days in
this manner. True love really
should stand this test of
“scraping by” and “sticking it
out together” in college. But,
come on. Wouldn’t you just die
to be able to get to know the
fine looking guy in your
chemistry lab? But, well, why
should you? You’ve got HIM.
And what about those Friday
and Saturday nights you could
be spending with your
roommate, finding out her
name and major, or at mom
and dad’s going to bed before
3 a.m. and actually getting
eight hours sleep? And, think
about how much higher your
GPR could be. Well, if not
higher, at least you wouldn’t be
spending study time wondering
whether or not HE still loves
you this week. (After all, the
last time HE told you he loved
you was five days ago.)
While I am not intending to
knock those who choose to
engage — some literally — in
serious relationships in college,
I’m letting those Panickers
know that there is no reason to
worry. Enjoy your singlehood.
You can be married for the rest
of your life. And, if you’re
graduating from college, take
heart-the “Real-Worlders”
can be pretty exciting. They
may have jobs to go to every
day, but they never have to
spend a Saturday night
studying.
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