Senior year. The year when seniors like me pretend we don’t have to get a real job and leave Boston College. The impending graduation dates make us all too aware of how many tailgates, late nights in O’Neill, or BC Dining chocolate chip cookies we have left. While all college seniors experience the same sinking feeling about having to become an adult (my mom still makes my dentist appointments), Boston College seniors have another added pressure.
How often have you heard that two-thirds of Boston College seniors marry another alum? This fact is hardly backed by evidence but sends me into a cold sweat whenever I hear it. More importantly, what does it mean for you, the seemingly only single person in your Ruby 6-man? Well, it means you have approximately 7 months to find the love of your life. Or else.
But where to look? How many of the same faces have we seen at Sunset Cantina, Fenway Johnnies, 730 Tavern, and now (finally) Lansdowne? If you were going to be dating one of the people you see every weekend, that would’ve happened by now. Every weekend you head to Loretta’s excited to meet someone, but you often return to your lofted single bed alone.
Unimpressed with your ability to find the perfect BC match, you can turn to your roommates to set you up with someone. But wait– aren’t all their friends also your friends? Aren’t those the same people you already decided weren’t worth dating? Damn. Back to square one.
After failing to find a relationship with another scenario, is it time to dip your toes into the underclassmen pool? After all, they are only a few years younger. While this opens up a whole new dating pool, could you take being the brunt of every cougar joke your friends could come up with?
If the idea of becoming a college cougar is too much, you could look to the post-grad option. How many young grads are in Boston, going to the same bar we are, wishing they were still in school? First things first– where can you find someone who has graduated? They aren’t clamoring for the same three bars Boston College seniors tend to frequent, and the idea of having to take the T or paying for an Uber for a date seems so unfair. This is especially unfair when your roommate gets to walk just down to the Mods. Not to mention the patronizing tone you get from a post-grad once you tell them you are still in school.
So what’s next? Perhaps you get on a dating app (and really throw away your self-dignity). Throughout the barrage of left swipes, you find yourself looking at these apps as more of a game than a real way to meet someone. Plus, how is this supposed to help you find your Boston College sweetheart??
Finally, it might just be time to realize that the infamous statistic may or may not be made up. To truly enjoy senior year, we don’t need to put extra pressure on ourselves to find a significant other whose family just happens to have a house on the Cape. We really only do get four years here, and to waste them trying to make ourselves dateable feels like a farce.
