A lot of negative publicity is given to relationships in college, whether it be assault, rape or infidelity. What about the positive aspects of college relationships? Believe it or not, Iowa State students do have successful relationships and do fall in love.

College is a time to meet new people and plan for one’s future. Of course the future usually includes a love interest to spend the future with. Many students fall in love in college and sometimes it does actually go somewhere.

Blake Crawford, a junior in agriculture business, recently became engaged to another ISU student. “I had been seeing her for a while and I decided that there was no one else I could see spending the rest of my life with,” he said. “Once you realize that, you are wasting time if you don’t do something about it.” The wedding is planned to take place after both graduate.

“I don’t think that it is difficult to find the girl or guy in college that you want to spend the future with. You have to be lucky and open to the fact that it might happen,” Crawford added.

Crawford said a lot of people try to avoid exclusive relationships, but that approach does not always work out. “If it’s going to happen, then it’s going to happen and there is nothing you can do about it. So just enjoy it,” he said.

It might be a little tougher to stay together in college, said Ben Barnhart, a senior in exercise science.

“There is nothing wrong with that,” Barnhart said, “as long as you are not stupid enough to throw away something special for a fling.”

Shannon Hill, a sophomore in journalism, said lover means she is unable to think of anything else but that certain person. Homework and school seem trivial. “All you want to do is spend time with your significant other,” Hill said.

Hill said love does occasionally get in the way of schoolwork, “which is bad.” The key is to regroup and analyze your priorities, she said.

At a school of about 25,000 people, one might think that it would be easy to find someone special and fall in love. That is not always the case, though.

Jason Springer, a senior in veterinary medicine, said circles of friends can sometimes be vicious. “Once you are with the same people on the weekends for a while, you tend to get in a rut where you aren’t looking for a relationship with the people you usually hang out with,” Springer said.

“Anytime you get that many people in a college town, it is going to be tough to find someone,” Barnhart said. “At a small school, you tend to know more people, which makes it easier to find someone. Here at ISU, there are so many people that some people find it hard to approach people because they don’t know them.”

A lot of people, Barnhart said, are scared that they will not have as much fun in college if they have a serious boyfriend or girlfriend. “That can happen,” he said, “but as long as you have an understanding in your relationship, it can work out well.”

Whether you are in love, looking for love or just want to play the field, Springer encourages everyone to “have fun.”