College women: start husband hunting now

Story by Victoria Bostick

Susan Patton, better known as the Princeton Mom, submitted a letter to the editor for the Daily Princetonian last year. As an alumna of the university, she gave advice to the women who currently attend Princeton. Patton has had two sons attend her alma mater. Having no daughters, she took it upon herself to give advice publicly.

Her advice, however, has generated a backlash as well as supporting arguments.

The advice Patton gave her fellow Princtonian women: find your future spouse while in school. Her reason is simple. The pool of men students can pick from is more populated and centrally located while they are in school.

In her letter she stated, “Here’s what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate. Yes, I went there.”

It probably was her bluntness that turned readers away, but honestly, you have to get to the point when it comes to finding love. While some of her statements were directly related only to the women of Princeton, the overall message was universal, and I could not agree more. She is not saying women need to have a ring placed on their left hand by the time they graduate, or that every minuscule detail of a wedding needs to be planned now. She is saying that collegiate women should take into great consideration their timing with finding a spouse.

If my life goes as planned, I will have no time to find a husband, let alone a boyfriend, after I graduate from Baker University. I have hundreds of young men to choose from here — some of whom I know and some I have probably never spoken to before. Once I graduate from this campus, my pool of available men will change, possibly becoming smaller or full of already committed men. If I go on to dental or graduate school, my work load will become so heavy that I cannot imagine how I would be able to put in the effort to pursue a relationship. Dating websites can only help me so much. At the age of 20, I have already tried an assortment of dating sites.

After receiving their degree, students typically choose a path to travel down next, whether it be graduate school, a full time job or living with their parents in order to save some money. Once they are in the working world, graduates often focus on advancing their career, and the search for true love gets put on the back burner because there just is not enough time for both.

Patton encourages young women to start their search sooner rather than later. What better way to go down future paths than with someone else alongside you?

Celebrating an accomplishment or going out after a tough week is just not the same alone. Yes, I understand having a multitude of friends would be sufficient, but for me there is something special about having a man’s perspective on a situation.