In a school of over 60,000 students, it seems impossible to find the right person.
If you’re anything like me and my friends, college was your first time experiencing the dating scene. Rom-coms set expectations for star-struck love. A fiery, passion-filled proclamation of love from a movie’s protagonist filled your mind. Dreams of being swept off your feet lulled you to sleep.
Questions like, “When will I find ‘Mr. Right?’” swirl in your mind.
But UF’s dating scene makes me wonder if we would have better luck looking for our dream man in Lake Alice.
It can be difficult to find the right partner in college. Some guys are all talk and no bite. At least the residents in the gator-filled UF lake are willing to nibble.
Other guys don’t know what they want or who they’re looking for.
Sometimes you’ll go on a few dates and eventually part ways. No guessing involved, no hard feelings, just simple incompatibility.
While these kinds of guys come and go, it’s more important to watch out for the guys who won’t commit to anything.
He’s the kind of guy who won’t give you the respect of calling you “his girlfriend” — the famous “situationship” that has you debating whether he even likes you.
When you seem ready to leave him, he suddenly starts acting like your boyfriend. He asks you to hang out, grab lunch or watch a movie, all the activities adjacent to dating.
But when the inevitable question of “What are we?” comes up, it’s back to radio silence. This type of boy is cold-blooded like a reptile. He seeks the warmth of another’s company but leaves them high and dry.
I never want my girlfriends to waste their time with a guy who can’t even press a few buttons to call her back. No matter who you are, we’re all juggling classes, jobs, extracurriculars, a social life and our mental health, but we both know they have enough time to respond.
Still, the push and pull is almost fun, a game of cat and mouse to decide who will initiate the next interaction. But the back-and-forth flirting only marks the steps before the real thing.
Growing up, my mom always told me if you have to question whether a guy likes you, you need to move on. Time is better spent without second guessing.
The Swamp is far too vast with far too many characters to worry if that guy you met going out or in Library West will text you back after a week of silence.
Why change for some guy when the perfect one might be sitting across from you while studying?
Find a man who embodies Albert’s character. He’s reliable and always at every school spirit event. He knows how to have a good time and when to hit the books. He is an inspiration.
At the end of the day, no matter the type of guy, it’s more important to know what kind of relationship you’re seeking and stick to those values.
The difference between our reptilian counterparts and a UF man: One knows when to call, and the other lives in Lake Alice.
Some Gator students might not find their lifelong partner in the Swamp, and that’s OK.
For those who do: We commend you and secretly hope to find that kind of love.
For those who are still searching: While dating is fun and marks a new chapter in life, know that love is found all over.
Love is sharing your lipgloss with a stranger in the bathroom. It’s complimenting another girl’s outfit and nails while in line at The Hub. It’s chanting Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” while standing in the Florida heat at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It’s the girls you went out with when you studied abroad.
It’s about finding your people.
Grace Tran is a UF mechanical engineering junior.
