Season's Greetings

Ahh Spring is in the air here at Ohio University. The bees are buzzing, the birds are chirping, and the booze is flowing (okay, so two of these things indicate a change in season...)

As the temperature hikes up and students emerge from their quarter long hibernation, they find more and more ways to be outside, bringing with them a much needed surge of life and energy to campus. College green, in its winter months, littered with decaying leaves and patches of dead grass finally lives up to it's name in the spring time. Students find spots between the shade and the sun to rest and sip cold drinks before and after classes. Couples lounge on blankets while an assortment of puppies prance around the greenery eating people's leftover food, and drawing an inordinate amount of "awwwws" and "omg's!" Spring time is really something magical here in Athens.

People's spirits generally appear to be high during spring quarter here. Whether they're counting down days till the next "----fest," or counting down the days until summer, OU is a relatively happy campus this time of year.

It seems fitting that during these happy months people's confidence boosts along with their spirits. It's at this point that something akin to spring fever takes hold, and hormones soar to almost unmanageable levels, leaving students with no other option but to put their exaggerated levels of estrogen and testosterone to good use.

This folks, is where I come in. See, spring time may perhaps be the best time of year to observe the performed dating rituals of Ohio University students *adjusts safari hat*. In this here blog, I plan on plunging into the depths of student life to take notes on the dating and mating rituals of my fellow peers. I use the term courtship to describe the methods used to attract, woo, and 'court' potential mates (I know this all sounds very National Geographic). While the more traditional definition of courting may seem dated to a few, I am attempting to redefine courtship in a way that is both meaningful and representative of my generation, specifically here at OU.

While the dating game is something that many of us participate in, we don't necessarily have a dialogue about what our "dating and mating" behavior reveals about us in a generational, societal, and cultural sense. With this blog, among other things, I would like to explore how dating varies in different social circles, what the dating trends are today and how they may have differed from past years, how serious relationships are on campus, how people feel about hooking up, one night stands, etc.

There shall be some captivating photos, links, and interesting interviews from students and community members in the near future, so please stay tuned for updates as I go out into the "field" and do my research. In the meantime, here is an interesting article I found that explores the modern day art of courting. I hope you all find this as interesting as I do!

Until later,

Lauren