Lab partner or life partner?
By Christopher DaCosta
'She's so lucky," my friend said. Her eyes were shining, enviously visualizing the most important day of her life. "I mean, she's done." No, we weren't talking about graduation -- we weren't even talking about being done with capstone. We were talking about marriage. Tying the knot, fastening the ol' ball and chain.
Apparently, my friend was jealous of her 19-year-old classmate walking down the aisle. I was horrified with the notion of being "done" -- is that what people think marriage is? A race to a finish line of eternal matrimonial bliss, complete with three screaming children, a mortgage and a dog? Please; I'd take the title of swinging bachelor any day.
Even though our elders always used to wax philosophical about youth being "the best years of our lives," some of us can't help but be taken with the romanticized idea of settling down. I mean, it's practically drilled into us that college is a place where shoes must be worn in the shower, where Beirut is not only a Lebanese city but also a thrilling past time and where we find our spouses.
But not all of us have to find our spouses at school, right? There's still hope; Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston met at a dinner party in 1998. Given current events, maybe not the best example. Torrid celebrity splits aside, Santa Clara has a reputation for being a campus rife with drunken hookups and a rigorous curriculum -- not conducive to finding someone to marry.
As we rise through the ranks, we undergo a series of evolutionary changes with regard to our relationships. Beginning freshman year, many of us tend "sow our wild oats," an action Darwinistic in nature but idiotic in practice. Welcome to the broken hearts club, population: that chick you don't remember making out with.
Sophomore year is greeted with newfound wisdom and perhaps a relationship. Due to underclassmen citizenship, stability tends to thrive at this point, presenting the most opportune time to find viable marriage material. Junior year begins the decent from the lofty horse of security when most couples are wrenched apart by studying abroad.
Along with the panicked, sleepless nights dreaming about being forced to live in a cardboard box after graduation, senior year brings the grim realization that most people do not find their significant other in college or that might just be you. For all you wedding-bell hopefuls, there's always grad school. For all you others, I'll see you on the bar scene.
* Contact Christopher DaCosta at cdacosta@scu.edu.