Campus Crushes: Cute or Crazy?

Campus Crushes: Cute

It’s no secret to my friends I’m an avid crusher. Not a soul-crusher or can-crusher, but someone who loves having romantic feelings for someone. I love it because having a crush is fun — simple as that. 

Crushing can be as big as genuine infatuation or as small as a hallway crush, which is liking someone you may have only seen in passing. 

There’s abundant perks to having a crush. All are essentially different ways to make life more exciting. 

First, having someone’s texts to look forward to is fantastic. Not obsessively checking my phone to see if they responded, but looking forward to taking a peek during a study break or to make a night out a bit more fun. 

The jolt of electricity and excitement when I see my current crush around the halls or in a class makes the day a little brighter. It’s also a good chance to learn about someone new. There’s no pressure for us to become really close and start dating, but instead a chance to hear a new life story — even around a little flirting. 

Having a crush is also a chance to dress up and feel good about myself. It’s an opportunity to put on my best and most flattering clothes just to go to class. 

It can be intoxicating to have a crush. When fawning over someone, the brain releases dopamine and oxytocin. Daydreaming, fantasizing and excitement all come with a crush. Having a crush allows one to be my internal dramatic self the world tends to taint. 

It’s important to establish how having a crush doesn’t have to turn into anything. It can just be a fantasy — a way to romanticize life. 

And at the very least, having a crush cures boredom and reminds one of their humanness. It reminds me how I’m still a teenage girl despite the constant workload and stressful life in university. 

And no matter what, having a crush allows one to be brave and bold. To say and do things they may not usually do due to liking them — and what’s wrong with a few regrets in life? 

Rania Woodward is a staff writer for the Loyola Phoenix

Campus Crushes: Crazy

As college students, we’re all booked and busy. Whether in clubs, sports or drowning in academics. Who would want to add the stress of a crush on top of that? 

A new study found Chicago is one of the worst cities to find a partner, with 132 other cities in the United States having a much higher chance of finding a significant other. 

Specifically in the college scene, dating culture and hookup culture are completely different things. Hookup culture is the extensive mindset of “I’m not looking for a relationship” — but come to my dorm at two a.m. Why would one want to have a crush on someone just to be a victim of hookup culture? 

With the prevalence of hookup culture on college campuses, romantic crushes seem like a saccharine relic from a time of milkshakes with two straws and going to the car-hop — a naive notion that’s no longer realistic.

For me, having a crush is so all-consuming I find it hard to work or focus on anything else. My everyday life becomes reliant on any type of communication I have with that person and my mood becomes dependent on another individual. 

Being so engrossed in someone can change your own mood and result in unstable emotions. Anxiety, stress and insecurity are all emotions, according to Wondermind, that can result in having a crush.

In my experience, I’ve changed so many aspects of myself to seem more appealing or attractive when I have an overwhelming crush on someone. Thinking I need to change for someone else is a stressful and seemingly never-ending cycle that drains all the energy out of me. 

There is a chemical reaction to having a crush — known as oxytocin. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide which is associated with romantic and sexual attraction. It increases the amount of dopamine released in the brain.

This can lead someone to feel more focused on a particular stimulus — the crush. When I can’t stop thinking about somebody cute despite my best efforts, it’s due to oxytocin. 

The notion is comforting, especially in instances when there’s feelings for someone that’s undesirable for whatever reason. I used to think people had control over who they had a crush on, but that’s not entirely the case. 

Our brains experience copious amounts of stimulation and an increase in hormones as a crush is developing. It’s not something a person consciously has control over. Knowing this fact is both comforting and upsetting. On one hand, it’s not within anyone’s power to control who they have a crush on. On the other hand, a heartsick individual can feel like they’re powerless when it comes to attraction. 

The stress, anxiety and fear of the unknown inherent to having a crush can lead to people feel powerless. I like to have control over my life and what I do with my time. College is a busy and exciting time and having a crush can make someone ignorant to the wonderful things right in front of them. 

Molly Hanley is a staff writer for the Loyola Phoenix