It’s that time of year again. The birds are chirping. The snow is melting. Spring is in the air on Elizabethtown College campus. Students are eager to get outside to enjoy the sun and to hang out with friends another place besides their dorm room. Spring fever is not the only thing in the air on campus. With the warmer weather comes more opportunities for students to date.

College dating is a whole other game compared to dating in high school. There are so many more opportunities to meet new people. “It’s different in college,” sophomore Jason Mountain said. “Dating actually means something now. It’s not just for show.” Dating in college also allows for you to really get to know someone and spend a lot of time with them. “It offers the chance for you to find a person you could potentially spend the rest of your life with,” sophomore Alisha Curreri said. Another difference about dating in college is the concept of public displays of affection. “PDA is more socially accepted in college,” sophomore Madison Button said. “You don’t have a teacher yelling at you to break it up.”

So now that you see the draw of dating in college in general, what are the pros and cons of seeing someone on campus?

Pros:

1. You’re get to spend a lot of time with your significant other. Living on the same campus provides plenty of chances for you to see the person you’re dating, especially if you live in the same dorm. You can hang out and do homework together, go grab lunch or even spend late nights together because you live within walking distance of each other. “She’s always around when I need her,” first-year Chris Friedkin said about his girlfriend of eleven months, first-year Lauren Helmig. “I know that I always have a dinner buddy.”

2. Easy to meet people. It’s no secret that Etown is a small campus. Etown’s small community feel makes it easy to meet new people. The college offers plenty of diverse activities and events that allow one to meet and get to know people with common interests.

3. Freedom. The great thing about college is that you are free to make your own decisions. You’re free to date whom you please, regardless of your parents’ approval or not. “You have more freedom because your parents are not here,” an anonymous student said. “You can spend as much time as you want with the other person without being restricted.”

So now that you have some of the positives about dating on campus, what are the downfalls of having a lover so close?

Cons:

1. Small Campus Life. While it’s great that Etown offers such community-oriented living, it can cause problems in the dating sphere. Small campus means that everyone knows your business. “The moment you make a relationship official, it spreads like wildfire,” Mountain said. Also if a relationship ends badly, it could be awkward because you see them all the time. You can’t hide on a campus like Etown.

2. Time Management. Most students on campus are really involved. When you’re a double major with two minors who is involved in four campus clubs and works a part-time job it may be hard to find time to date. There’s always the fear of becoming too busy with school to give your significant other the attention and time that they deserve from you.

3. Spending too much time together. Dating someone on campus allows you to spend as much time with them as you possibly can, which is great, especially if you live far away from each other and don’t see them over the summer. However, that person can quickly become a distraction from school. “Chris can be extremely distracting when I’m trying to study or do homework,” Helmig said. There’s also the fear that spending too much time together makes you too familiar with the other person. It takes all the fun out of dating and soon you’re just getting together to hang out, not to go out.

Whether you choose to date on campus or not, romance is bound to flourish in the warm weather. Aside from swiping your date in at the Marketplace or even going to Folklore, there are plenty of local places that make great dating destinations. “I definitely like going on dates off of campus more,” sophomore Ethan Weber said. “It makes the date more special.”

You could catch a movie and Movi-Etown and then grab dinner at one of the local restaurants like, Ella’s Place, TJ Rockwell’s or the Mount Joy Diner. If you’re feeling adventurous, take your date to Adventure Sports Hershey or the Laser Dome. If money’s a problem, you can always take a nice stroll around town or even go hiking.

Dating on campus does not have to be as boring as watching Netflix every Friday night. Get creative and get outside to enjoy the weather. You and your date will be glad you did.