Dating is really frickin hard. Dating in high school was hard and awkward, and dating in college is harder and even more awkward. You play games with every boy (or girl) you encounter, whether you want to or not, and everyone is out for themselves. It’s like The Hunger Games in a way; The Dating Games if you wish.

The first part of the big game is just getting a boy’s attention in general. You show up to Chad’s frat party, and he ignores you the entire time. Either he's playing pong with his Apple Pi Delta brothers, standing in a corner acting too cool for everyone else, or he's chatting up some blonde girl from Tri Cherry Pi; all while you’re left standing there wondering what's wrong with you, sound familiar? Don’t worry girl, it’s not you, guys are just playing their little game where they think that if they don’t give you attention, they will seem ~irresistible~ and you will fall in love with them. Right Chad, nice try.

If you’re lucky though, you might catch a boy’s attention and actually go far enough to give him your number, but don’t think the games are over yet. The next event is just starting. Now you have to deal with waiting a whole three days to hear from him. Why three days? I have absolutely no idea. But three days later, his internal clock will go off, and it will remind him that his time is up and he can finally text you. And when he does, you will get all happy and smiley because he did remember you and wasn’t as drunk as you thought.

So, you will talk to him, and it’ll either go one of three ways; he will ghost you (or you will ghost him because you realize you are so much better than a frat boy in a Lonzo Ball jersey), you will just end up being a booty call every day at two in the morning, or he will actually ask you on a date like a rational human being. If he does ask you to dinner, and you actually go, do not be surprised if he doesn’t text you back until seven days later. This is another game boys play for some unknown reason. They think that it is absolutely, 100%, NOT OK to contact a girl until seven days after their first date. Why? Again, no clue. Just be prepared that this will happen.

If you actually decide to keep this dick-wad around, I applaud you. Maybe one day he will grow up, and you guys can have an actual relationship. Personally, I am not one for games. I cannot wrap my head around these games that everyone plays with each other, and not just boys too!! Girls are just as bad!! Boys, if you wait 30 minutes to text a girl back or answer her snapchat, you can bet that she is going to wait 31 minutes.

Yes, it is petty AF, but she does not care. This is something about my gender that I will never understand. If you see your boy text you, it is okay to respond right away. If you like him, show him that!!! Waiting two hours to respond because he took longer than 30 seconds to answer you is insane. He is going to get the idea that you couldn’t care less about him, and if you do actually care, that is not what you want him to think.

With all of this being said, here is my proposition: everyone grows up and realizes that college is prime time to find someone around your age with your same interests that you can grow old with. Once we graduate, we’re going to be in the real world and working in a real-person office with real people who are like 40-years-old and have their real lives together (scary, I know). Playing these games with each other is not going to work, let’s stop now before we get too used to it. Tell that girl you like her, tell that boy you think he’s cute in that jersey. Just be honest!!

And girl, you are so much better than Chad in Apple Pi Delta, trust me.