For one night only, or forever after? Part 1

Everyone tells you that University is a time to experiment, a three year party where you let your hair down and loosen your morals. It is a chance to escape the clutches of school cliques and reinvent yourself amongst a mass of people of a similar age and with similar interests. There is no judgement for getting around, rather a high five and a pat on the back, because, let’s face it – “YOLO”.

Personally, I’m just not the kind of person that enjoys the chase. The quantity of alcohol I would have to consume to attempt to chat up a stranger or go home for a one night stand comes with baggage such as extreme beer goggles and the inevitability that I will pass out prior to or even during said seduction. It’s just embarrassing. Being single might seem great on a night out but the next day it can be really depressing.

The singleton’s only salvation.

Being in a relationship means I never have to traipse home from Timepiece, eating my feelings in the form of a Timepiece burger, knowing that I conjured absolutely zero interest.Then instead of spending my hungover mornings beneath my covers cringing at the memory of drunkenly propositioning someone, I spend it cuddling in bed catching up on X Factor or some other trashy show.

I may not have an impressive number of university conquests and I may not be experiencing the thrill of all the ‘fresh’ meat arriving this September, but I have something better. I have someone who doesn’t sneak out in the morning, who won’t avoid eye contact with me when I next see them and who won’t go home and tell his friends “she was a three at best.”

Of course, a long term relationship at University is clearly a lot more than having someone to carry your books or make you breakfast in bed. It means having someone reliable who you can always lean on during the more difficult moments. It provides you with a constant friend who doesn’t hold you back but you can turn back to if things don’t quite work out.

I won’t pretend that, like most, I didn’t come to Exeter with hopes of leading a crazy single life – and if he’s being honest neither did my boyfriend. However, the past year has been the best of my life and I really wouldn’t change a thing.