No Ring – No Way!
David Borron
The best piece of advice I received was from my mother. She always reiterated, “Don’t date anyone you couldn’t see yourself marrying.” This advice was flippantly thrown off earlier in my life. I think a lot of us go through a serial dating stage where we go out for fun. I often thought, I’m just testing the water and seeing what is out there. As I tested my own waters, I observed many friends who bounced around from one relationship to another. This makes the process of connecting with someone on a deeper level much more difficult – not to mention all the drama and heartache that goes along with it. Seriously, who wants all that drama in their life? As I got older, I soon realized the value of the word, “date.” It’s not just a simple dinner or a movie, but it is the beginning of a relationship, one that may progress into a more serious relationship. This has made me into a much pickier person in regards to who I choose to begin and continue relationships. If you can’t see a relationship being fruitful in the long run, what’s the point of having it in the first place?
How to Bait and Catch Him!
Tara James
The best advice I got from my parents that I would never admit has to be how to flirt with a guy who’s half way across the room in a club or party. What you have to do is catch his eye once – when you do, give him a teasing giggle while looking him up and down, then suddenly stop giggling and act somewhat mesmerized. This way his stare will come back to you repeatedly. When it does, smile like you want him to come closer. Most times, he will. Once he approaches you, act very cute, yet sassy, by playing with your hair and putting your hand on his shoulder and chest playfully. After a while, catch him off guard with a silvery laugh that will drive him crazy. When he asks what you’re laughing about, say that the song playing is your song and that he just has to dance with you on the dance floor – pull him onto the dance floor and wrap your arms around him. If he doesn’t pull back, then you know you’ve got him!
Men can Smell Desperation.
Meggie Hulsey
Personally, I’ve never experienced real casual dating, simply because I always had a boyfriend; (I preferred to casually date on the side.) However, I always had one girlfriend who was on the “lookout” for Mr. Right 24/7.We are all guilty of being at the bar late into the evening, and participating in the “sexy-turn-him-on-dance.”
This is where you’ve clearly had too much to drink and try to coax the hot boy over from across the bar. It starts with flipping your hair, giving him a seductive stare and a flirtatious smile. However, to the sober eye you look like you might be having a seizure. So, what is the moral of this story and best advice my parents have given me…cue dramatic music (dun dun dunnn)…men can smell desperation.
And just in case you were wondering if you are, or are not wearing the latest “Desperate Perfume” – ask yourself if you’ve done these things before:
1) Facebook them the very next day, not to mention she would write on their wall.
2) Text them an hour after she left the bar to say how nice it was to meet him.
3) Drive by their house at night and in the morning to see if there were any “suspicious” cars in the driveway.
Watch Your Parents Cook.
Alexandria Lorenzana
Growing up, my mom never took advantage to learn from her own father, a successful owner and head chef of a thriving restaurant and bar in the Philippines. As I grew up, I made the same mistake, opting out of free, hands-on cooking lessons for sessions with the Sega Genesis. From time to time, however, I would stake a place out in the kitchen, but only to either a) sneak a taste of raw ingredients (the odd behavior of a foodie in the making), or b) fulfill the first-born duties of helping in meal preparation. Now that I am on my own with no access to the joys of home-cooked meals of childhood’s past, I often find myself in the middle of the grocery aisle, calling home and asking for recipes and cooking techniques. Although hindsight is always 20/20 and I should have paid attention when I had the chance, both my mom and I cannot help but smile during these “emergency” phone calls – it is as if we are back in the kitchen, she at the stove and me at the counter. “First you need a half-pound of shrimp, then you sauté the garlic…”
Push a Stone Wall.
Jenna Wessinger
She always said it. I always rolled my eyes. And inevitably, she was always correct (I hate that). “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” she’d say. Be persistent. You never know unless you try. Don’t give up right away. These were the underlying meanings behind my mother’s favorite words of wisdom. My mother always urged me to never just take a “no” and walk away. Push, she taught me, until you’re pushing a stone wall. Sometimes, even if it was a stone wall, I needed to push. When I was younger I hated this expression. I looked at it as a nuisance. But now that I’m in my quarterlife, I realize that letting people know you’re serious about what you want, and serious about getting it, makes them more likely to work with you and/or for you.
Mom Knows Best.
Danielle Shuey
I wouldn’t exactly describe myself as the type of person always seeking to defy my parents. However, I am significantly different from my other family members in nearly every way imaginable. Let me preface this answer by explaining a little more about myself. I change my mind on a regular basis about what and who it is I want to be, particularly when it comes to my career. I changed my college major approximately seven times (ranging from music therapy to pre-med), transferred colleges, then wanted to transfer back, wanted to go to law school, dental school, nursing school, then grad school for anthropology, public administration, economics… I think you get the point.
My mom knew of my interest in sociology and tried to convince me several times to study what I loved and not what I thought I should study. Of course I didn’t listen. Needless to say, it took me a bit longer to obtain my undergraduate degree. If I had only listened to my mother my freshman year of college, I might have been a little more productive in advancing my career, wouldn’t have accrued so much debt, etc., etc. Sociology was my minor at first, but it would not be until my first senior year that I would officially give in to the inevitable.
So while this advice is not exactly embarrassing or even applicable to anyone other than myself, I hate to admit that because I was so fickle and stubborn, I spent five years avoiding a commitment to a subject that actually is my greatest passion in life. So…I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes your parents DO know what’s best for you…and even if not, maybe it’s worth giving some actual thought to their advice before casting it aside.
Straight Forward:
Russell Michael
Get a degree first!