It’s the first semester of college. Everyone is single (or most-likely will be by winter break), and everyone is going crazy flirting with each other. There’s hook-ups and flings and romance starts flying. At this point it’s okay to be single! Then as the years go on, if you’re like me, suddenly you reach a stage in your life where everyone starts to take things to a whole other level. There are weddings, engagements and casual dating begins to disappear as serious relationships form. You have this moment of questioning where you think, “Wow, all these people have already found the person they want to spend the rest of their life with, some are even pregnant with kids! Should that be me?” My friends keep coming up to me and asking questions just like that. They fear they will never find that special someone or are going to live alone with their cats. Well listen up, young college students, IT’S OKAY TO BE SINGLE!

You’re 21, or somewhere around that age. You have a whole life ahead of you. Before you know it you will be in this monotonous routine of work, eat, sleep, and repeat. In college, every day is a new adventure. There is excitement, it’s random and you spontaneously do things you never thought you would. This is the time to make mistakes, when you decide what kind of person you want to be, and experience the world and all it has to offer. You form memories that last a lifetime. If you’re anything like me, you travel, make tons of new friends, and say yes to just about everything. While it’s perfectly okay to be in a relationship, it’s equally as fun being single! I’ve been able to establish relationships with some awesome people, both girls and guys alike, that I’m sure will last forever. Being single gives you the freedom to do anything. Spend time with whomever you want, guilt-free. I can tell you now that I am not the same person I was before college started. I am independent, adventure-seeking and a wanderer. I step outside my comfort zone socially, academically, and doing physical activities (if you haven’t gone cliff jumping, I highly recommend it!). Items on my bucket list are being crossed off all the time as I strive to make the most of each day.

Someday I know I will be ready to settle down and have a family, but I have to say that life is pretty sweet right about now, and I think I’m having just as much excitement if not more in my life while being single. Now is the time where I feel I can be picky-why settle for an okay guy when I know the kind of person I’m looking for? There’s no need to waste time being in a relationship simply because you feel like you need to be in one. I’ve given the advice more and more lately that there is a difference between dating because you like the idea of being in love and having a relationship, and actually finding the person of your dreams. College is about being a little wild and crazy (although not too crazy ;) ) and having some fun. This is all possible when you’re single. Stop envying those in relationships and go out and explore. Be social, have adventures, and become happy with your independent self. Once you have come to love yourself and the person you have become these past few years, you will be ready to love and be loved back. There’s no need to be scared of independence. Having a man or woman in your life might make you happy, but you should be happy on your own as well. And trust me, that’s easier said than done. But entering my senior year now, I know that it is truer than ever. It’s okay to be single, and someday your prince charming or princess will come by and sweep you off your feet. Instead of forcing love, just wait until the right moment comes and everything falls into place as it should. Dating or not, college is the time to discover who you really are away from your family and life you knew before. College, plain and simply, is so much more than dating.

“How am I ever gonna get to be old and wise if I aint ever young and crazy?” –Frankie Ballard

*Girls trip to Nice, France