The D-spot

Author: Dina Magaril

I don't want to jinx it by talking about. It seems too good to be true but I need to share this with someone to make sure I'm not imagining it. Can it be? Middlebury students are dating. While this fact should not be startling news, let's face it, it is. Most Middlebury students do not date, the plan instead including a "well if I see her/him at this party and I/he/she is drunk enough, maybe we'll sleep together." In the world of Middlebury, this has become the norm. We are so warped that we are almost embarrassed to date or to get to know the person we like and not sleep together the first time we're alone in a room.

In the same way that the alcohol tendencies we practice at college unfortunately will follow us into our adult lives, our sexual choices probably will too. If you can't stay faithful to your college girlfriend I'd hate to quote you some divorce statistics. And in the same way that those kids that made the library an after-school activity are now making six figure salaries, the more effort we put into anything we do at Middlebury, the greater results we'll see in the future. I'm not saying who you are in college is set in stone for who you'll be 10 years from now, but a big part of our formative years are the four we're spending here.

Maybe "taking it slow" should become the new "taking it fast." Now before I make such a bold statement, let me explain. Taking it slow does not mean you'll never get to home plate, it just means you get to enjoy the scenery, get to know your partner and have not one but a few legitimate conversations with them before you go for the finish. Because haven't we reached a point where casual sex just isn't what is used to be? I mean, really, how many one-night stands can we have before we realize this isn't making us feel any better about ourselves. Perhaps sex should be something meaningful, even in college.

Of course, you need to have a slew of unsatisfying or even satisfying but meaningless hook-ups before you can reach this conclusion, and if you haven't, go ahead. In the same way that God made light so we could understand darkness, one can only truly appreciate meaningful sex after having had a few one-night stands. But stop and think about what you are really getting out of it in the end, and consider that the mistakes as well as the right decisions we make during our sex lives at Middlebury will affect our future sex and love lives in the world outside. If we start making smart sex decisions now, our futures will start looking brighter, with a healthy sex life as payoff.

I'm sure some of you are already practicing what I'm trying to preach here, and if you are, job well done - you're one step closer to emotional maturity. But for those of you who are still making Sunday brunch anonymous-hook-up-storytelling time, take a step back and think about how funny this story will be in a few years, with a wife that resents you because you still play beer pong with your college buds. College is a time to prepare for your future via finding a career path, but also to prepare yourself emotionally, and physically, for future relationships. If you can't grow up and get your life together at Middlebury, where "the grass is green and the girls (and boys) are pretty," then I hate to break it to you, this is pretty much as good as it gets. So take advantage of the fact that the dating scene is literally within walking distance and take your crush out to dinner or give someone a compliment, and make Middlebury, and the world a better place. Maybe you'll even have great meaningful sex while still in college. Here's hoping, for all our sakes.