Kevin Iraheta ‘15 and Alexandria Sousa ‘15 share a hazelnut almond milk latte with heart foam art in the spirit of Valentine’s Day at Lafayette’s favorite neighborhood coffee shop, the Cosmic Cup.

Photo by Elizabeth Lucy ‘15

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An argument for the existence of love on a college campus

I am snuggled up in bed with hot chocolate. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is streaming on Netflix. And then the rain comes. It’s my favorite scene, when Holly Golightly frantically searches for her cat in the soaked alleyways of New York City. Finally George comes, from around the corner, holding Cat. They kiss (Holly and George, that is), and I melt. I may be secluded within my dorm room but I get butterflies. Technically, that’s romance on a college campus. Butterflies were transmitted and I was on the Lafayette premises, after all.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s amusing to speculate whether or not true romance exists. Like many, I believe that pure, true love is a palpable notion. Whether it is on the Parisian “Lover’s Bridge,” or meandering upon a Verona balcony, ardent romance is real. The question remains in whether or not romance exists on a college campus.

All jests aside, I believe that college campuses are a feeding ground for romance. Love is prevalent, just not the kind you see in movies. In a way, I feel as though the hookup and romance culture is reversed. If you didn’t see that random couple making out at a party, then you heard about them. But you’re never going to witness two freshmen during their first weekend at school, sitting under a tree at 2 a.m. splitting quesadilla from Wawa. You’re not going to feel the electricity between a couple as they hold hands at a rock concert they attended off-campus in Philly one random Wednesday evening. Hearing about the butterfly kisses your bro got while snuggling in bed with his girl last night? Forget about it.

Romance is not for the faint of heart; it equates to vulnerability. While there are many college students not interested in finding love—and in fact, are probably gagging eating their morning eggs from Upper while reading this article—I nonetheless believe that it exists. It tends to be present, however, in low-key or disguised forms. Oftentimes, it exists in the most unexpected places.