Campus Confidential: College actions have long-standing consequences
Briana Berg
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: Opinion
My best friend goes to a known party school; Princeton Review ranked it as number 15 on the list. Her freshman year consisted of random nights and lonely mornings. But it was only recently that I got a call from Down South about how she was currently in a monogamous relationship in the middle of her sophomore year. I was thrilled for her because this party school is not exactly conducive to a relationship. Forgive me, though. I was mistaken. This "monogamous" relationship was really only a locked-in hook-up; geese are more monogamous than that.
And it was only a few weeks ago that my phone rang at 6 a.m. When I picked up I heard her high heels clicking on the pavement. I knew what she was doing. She was walking home from a war. Her battle wounds, I am sure, proved to the world who had won that battle. But she seemed happy and confident that this mysterious boy would call her later. She didn't remember his name. He didn't call her and I was not surprised.
I have not heard of any recent disastrous shameful walks back to her dorm room, but I do know that she is not in that monogamous relationship. There is no way she could be. When a social life is so hard-pressed to include spontaneity, adventure, randomness and surprise, it would certainly be hard to stay with one person all of the time.
Even here at Loyola, the same problem occurs. On a small campus like this, staying monogamous is harder than ever. But who said we even wanted to be monogamous? Flirting and meeting knew people is the name of the game in college, right? But what happens when we finally move on into the real world? Can you flirt with your co-workers and get away with it? Do the habits we create as freshmen stay with us until we are actually looking for a monogamous relationship?
And then there are always those consequences that rear their ugly heads when you least expect it. Take, for instance, a few statistics from The American Social Health Association. Did you know that one in four teenagers contracts an STD every year? That means that out of your four-person suite in Newman, one of you will be infected. And with what you may ask? Maybe it will be herpes. One in five people already have it and 90% do not know they have it. I'm sorry, Loyola, that is disgusting. And every year there are 3 million new cases of chlamydia. Most of those cases are seen in young adults. Go figure.
And it was only a few weeks ago that my phone rang at 6 a.m. When I picked up I heard her high heels clicking on the pavement. I knew what she was doing. She was walking home from a war. Her battle wounds, I am sure, proved to the world who had won that battle. But she seemed happy and confident that this mysterious boy would call her later. She didn't remember his name. He didn't call her and I was not surprised.
I have not heard of any recent disastrous shameful walks back to her dorm room, but I do know that she is not in that monogamous relationship. There is no way she could be. When a social life is so hard-pressed to include spontaneity, adventure, randomness and surprise, it would certainly be hard to stay with one person all of the time.
Even here at Loyola, the same problem occurs. On a small campus like this, staying monogamous is harder than ever. But who said we even wanted to be monogamous? Flirting and meeting knew people is the name of the game in college, right? But what happens when we finally move on into the real world? Can you flirt with your co-workers and get away with it? Do the habits we create as freshmen stay with us until we are actually looking for a monogamous relationship?
And then there are always those consequences that rear their ugly heads when you least expect it. Take, for instance, a few statistics from The American Social Health Association. Did you know that one in four teenagers contracts an STD every year? That means that out of your four-person suite in Newman, one of you will be infected. And with what you may ask? Maybe it will be herpes. One in five people already have it and 90% do not know they have it. I'm sorry, Loyola, that is disgusting. And every year there are 3 million new cases of chlamydia. Most of those cases are seen in young adults. Go figure.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Fed Up
posted 11/20/08 @ 9:50 AM EST
I'm sorry, this article is so judgmental.
I hate the god damn stigma associated with STDs. Any other disease is fine and deserves sympathy but my god, once it involves sex then it's DISGUSTING. (Continued…)
There's a very simple strategy for not getting STD's:
posted 11/20/08 @ 12:20 PM EST
Keep your pants on. (AIDS can't be considered an STD because there are too many ways others have contacted it).
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