HC: What are your thoughts on hall passes/open relationships?
PD: Hugely dangerous. In order to make it work, you’d have to find the perfect two people. This sort of relationship is obviously very attractive since it allows people to see whoever they want while still having someone they can rely on whenever they want to. But the problem is, at some point, it will almost always fail. As cliché as it sounds, every movie that has covered this is right: one of the two will eventually want more, or will have been never okay with it in the first place. First, props to the person who tries to initiate open relationship conversations with their significant other. That would take some serious guts. Second, in that situation, if you’re being asked or you didn’t come up with the idea, and you say it’s okay, are you really sure about that? I have to think that if someone were to agree to it, it would be because they are scared they will lose their SO if they said no. You also have to come to terms with what you’re asking if you want it. You have to think about it from their standpoint: you are telling them that they are not enough for you, and that you want more. I repeat…you are TELLING them that they are NOT ENOUGH for you. Personally, if I started to have feelings for someone who was not my girlfriend to the point where I wanted to act on it, I would feel like it was my responsibility to break things off with my girlfriend because I no longer felt the same way as I did when I asked her to be my girlfriend. It wouldn’t have been fair to her, nor me.
Obviously every couple is different and there will be people who wholeheartedly disagree with me about this and claim that they can do it no problem. If you can, that’s great! But I would wager that you are the vast minority and every other person that is considering this alternative relationship style take a hard look at what you want and what your SO might want as well. After all, the world doesn’t revolve around your needs.
HC: As campus begins to thaw, where’s your favorite spot to enjoy the warmer temps?
PD: Since I run a lot, I love running around campus. This is going to sound really awkward but I can tell when it’s the first sunny day in spring after campus has thawed by how it smells/sounds around town when I’m running around. The air is fresh, the sky is a bit brighter, the grass is coming back, the birds are out and about, students are walking around campus, and everything just seems happier. I love the winter, don’t get me wrong, but there’s nothing like that first day where it’s around 60°F and everyone’s out and about. Besides touring all of campus during a nice run, I love hanging out in the diag with friends or the balcony on our house enjoying a nice day out with friends.
HC: Spring cleaning – do you do it? In your house, your school work, your life?
PD: Oh yes. I’m not the cleanest person I know, but if my room gets too messy, I have to clean it. There’s not a whole lot of maneuvering space in my room with my bike in the middle of the whole thing so I can’t really afford clutter. I usually do it when I’m procrastinating doing some school work because, well, that’s college. Spring cleaning my life is interesting. It always starts by actually cleaning my room, which is a major key. I then cook a good meal before tackling all of the stupid tasks and errands that need to be done that I’ve let pile up. I think that spring cleanings (of various kinds) are crucial to keeping mental sanity. Find some good “get shit done” music, and go for it; you’ll feel so much better once it’s done.