Dating

Dating was hard even before a worldwide pandemic hit. With regulations on group gatherings and social distancing measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, finding love now might feel impossible. If you’ve been feeling extra lonely this year, Spectrum created a guide to dating during the coronavirus.

At 8 p.m. on Monday nights, I usually sit in the Spectator office. This is arguably the place where I spend most of my time, and inarguably, this is the place where I watch The Bachelor.

“Someone put your UNI down in Scramble! Log in or create an account at www.scramble.fun and put down UNIs of people you’re interested in too!”

At some point in my early teens, I created a mythology of the college relationship. It would involve a wonderful meet-cute. It’d be easy, romantic, and I wouldn’t put in much work.

Love is in the air! However, for many of us at Columbia, the only thing wafting through the air is the cold that everyone seems to have these days. Dating at Columbia is complicated, and finding a meaningful, long-term relationship seems like a miracle to a lot of us. Many have already criticized Columbia’s hookup culture, which has pushed a lot of people to reluctantly turn toward dating apps to meet their significant others.

It’s 2019. Tinder is no longer new or cool. The discourse surrounding the dating app, as of late, has grown stale: We blame Tinder for our generation’s emotional immaturity, fear of commitment, and lack of communication skills. Most think pieces shockingly conclude that millennials’ obsession with technology has led to the devolution of even the most sacred forms of social ritual: fucking.

There’s no shortage of lesbians on this campus. Because of this, I thought I’d be able to gaily live my queer life the moment I set up a Tinder. However, after a year here, I’m still fielding questions like I’m in a perpetual game of ping-pong.

We’ve all been there: You meet someone at a crowded, sweaty, EC party; The music is loud, the drinks are gross, and the floor is sticky. An ideal situation. You vibe, you talk, maybe dance a little, and at the end of the night, casually exchange numbers or Instagram handles. Fast forward to the next morning, and you wake up either with a smile, feeling like you need to text this person, or with a pounding hangover from too much jungle juice and a sinking feeling when you see a “Good morning :)” text from that person. Whether you’re the ghosted or the ghostee, Spectrum is here with the 10 most popular questions people have during cuffing season, courtesy of your very own Agony Aunts.

You know that cute girl who sits in the third row of your calculus class every Monday who you’ve been dying to ask out? Or that beautiful boy you spilled coffee on at Ferris but just don’t know his name? You’re in luck because Spectrum’s staff writers are journalists by day and expert stalkers by night. Here’s how to find out more about your crush before cuffing season comes to an end.

It might be all the new faces I’m seeing, or maybe just the general feeling of getting old, but there’s a palpable difference in my on-campus experience as I embark on my senior year. And as cuffing season draws closer and closer, I’ve thought more about my up close and personal experience with Columbia’s well-documented hookup culture.