Best Class for College Students? Relationships 101

Many of us are faced with endless questions about what defines dating, relationships, courtships, and even marriage. Thinking that we'd have it all figured out by college didn't work out and most of us have found ourselves stumbling along, pretending like we know what we're doing when we don't, hoping to find the right approach. The college environment is both artificial and misleading in the sense that the way in which relationships are conducted throughout these next four years, in no way mimics your future relationships. It feels like there are endless variables affecting the outcome of every relationship. We struggle to find the right fit, the perfect outline, or that light bulb above our heads that will click on when we figure out exactly how we should behave without falling too hard and without getting hurt. If you could find an easier way to avoid the hurdles, obstacles, and mistakes, wouldn't you want to tune in a find out? I for one would and I think that with a little bit of help, my outlook has definitely become clearer. On the weekend of Nov. 13, the Princeton campus witnessed a true cultural revolution. Thanks to Cassy Hough, founder of Princeton's Anscombe Society, as well as the Love and Fidelity Network (LFN), over 200 students from 50 colleges and universities packed the lecture hall at the Friend's Center to attend the LFN's second annual conference entitled Sexuality, Integrity, and the University. Today's campuses provide students with a warped view of the meaning behind moral and sexual behavior. The "anything goes" mentality is continually promulgated, leaving the negative effects of our sexual culture unmentioned. Their purpose in hosting this conference was to educate students in the rightful purpose, meaning, and ordering of sex and relationships and how they can uphold to that in our very "sex-pressured" society. Students across the country are standing up for their strongly grounded beliefs in happy, healthy, and chaste relationships. There is no doubt that these students are unwaveringly committed to providing their peers back on their particular campuses with an alternative to what has quickly become the norm for so many. While facing constant opposition, surprisingly from a generation promoting the exercise of different lifestyles (ironic, right?), they are in for the fight and putting up powerful arguments to combat those set out to criticize and condemn them. I am proud to say that Providence College accounted for a significant portion of the student population, taking 12 students, including myself, to partake in the experience. The opportunity to mix and mingle with students from Princeton, Harvard, University of Virginia, and many other universities, gave me insight into the differences in campus culture. What struck me was the severe animosity that many of them deal with on account of their stance to create a movement of awareness for the issues at stake. Relationships in college make up a significant portion of a student's day-to-day and account for quite a bit of emotional stress. Hence, figuring out the best ways in which to approach them and finding the path that will lead you to truly being happy with the person that you care most about should definitely be a priority on the minds of many. Unfortunately, as difficult as relationships are in real life, relationships in college are always a bit more of a challenge. We want to find ourselves in the correct mindset of ordering each one of our relationship experiences to its proper end, meaning marriage, but how do we do that? How do we know if that person is the one? How do we let go when they're not? What are the signs we should be watching out for? There are a million and one questions, but not always enough answers. We can, however, seek the wisdom of those who have experienced this before us, even though some ideas and practices have to be modernized a bit, the wealth of wisdom that we can gain from those more experienced should not be something to pass up, and that is exactly what the conference aimed for. Being a woman, I know how difficult it can be to want to figure everything out, to want to find that perfect someone, and go about it flawlessly. It can be troubling and devastating when things don't work out with that one guy who claimed your heart for a short time and you find yourself wondering who will be the one, or if there ever will be. I tend to be a perfectionist with nearly every other aspect of my life, but coming to the realization that relationships can't always be analyzed, dissected and made to work out exactly how you want them to was always, and still is, a difficult concept for me to grasp. Taking the leap of falling in love, or like, with someone can seem like the scariest thing in the world. Not knowing how to go about it once you've already leapt can, at times, be even scarier. So, if you're trying to figure things out, like I am, you're not alone. Courtship has been overhauled and has undergone a massive cultural change that has taken place in the last century. Men and women are lost and confused, more so now than ever, especially concerning what roles they should be assuming in a relationship. Guys are confused by the actions of women and women feel that men no longer take initiative. Why is that? These are the problems facing our college culture each and every day. It is due to these students who are willing to put their social reputations on the line for the pursuing of a greater good, one that is the answer to true happiness and fulfillment. They have taken the issues head on and there is nothing stopping them. Are you ready for a cultural revolution?