This is my second year at Colgate University, and I think I’ve gotten used to how remote it is here. It has become one of the things I’ve grown to love most about being here; the quiet, isolation and general placidity of campus is refreshing. That being said, there is certainly a lack of activities to do around here. In a city, it feels like all I have to do is step outside before I’m greeted with dozens of options. So, when it comes to planning anything to do, being at Colgate presents a few issues.
Generally, dating at Colgate can be challenging. The student population is relatively small, and without a car, it is difficult to date someone who goes to another university. In the past month, the vast majority of my friends have found themselves getting into relationships, and they each share a similar problem: planning dates. Sometimes, the prospect of dating someone on campus seems impossible, but once you overcome the hurdles of finding someone to date at a small school, another challenge emerges — what to do on those dates.
Being an underclassman makes things more difficult. After all, it doesn’t seem all too romantic to ask someone out to dinner at Frank Dining Hall. There are some options in Hamilton, but after a while, even those get repetitive. Besides dinner, there don’t seem to be many other options for date activities to do around campus or town. The best my friends and I have been able to come up with were attending various campus events when they occur, watching movies or shows on our computers and the occasional dinner in town.
Those who have a car have a few more options to venture off campus and out of town, but even then, the time we have to spare for excursions is limited. So, the majority of dates end up not really being dates at all. The difference between going on dates in a city and in the middle of nowhere can be shocking, and makes the latter seem dull. However, I think there are some benefits that we tend to overlook.
The limited number of activities to do, combined with the little time we have to spare, means going on a date typically involves studying together, grabbing lunch or generally doing mundane tasks. The only difference is that these day-to-day activities are done with a person you like. This means less room for distractions when getting to know each other. You both get to see each other in your daily lives, not on an exceptional day that you planned out. Instead of only seeing each other dressed up and distracted by an activity you do together, you see each other under normal circumstances. You get to know each other better and more quickly, and can more easily become part of each other’s routines in the long run.
This is a unique feature of going to college in a rural area, and also just an aspect of being in college generally. At times, it can be awful. Sometimes I wish I could have access to a plethora of different activities that can be found in a city (or just somewhere that isn’t this rural). It feels like going to the same few places doing the same few activities isn’t enough and that I’m missing out on something. It can feel like those dates aren’t real dates. On the other hand, it’s refreshing to be able to just exist with someone and not have to worry about constantly needing to do something specific to be together. Here, it’s easy to just appreciate someone’s company by doing simple everyday tasks together. We all live in this little Colgate bubble together, and although many of us tend to complain about its shortcomings — like how rural it is — there’s a unique charm to it. Finding anything extraordinary to do on a date around Hamilton is difficult, and it certainly takes getting used to simply embracing the simplicity of the Village. However, once you figure it out and accept our setting for what it is, there is a lot to be appreciated.
