The Student News Site of Northern Michigan University

The North Wind

The North Wind

The North Wind

Meet the Staff
Ryley Wilcox
Ryley Wilcox
News Editor

I found my passion for journalism during my sophomore year of college, writing articles here and there for the North Wind. Since joining the staff this past semester as the news writer, I have been able...

The North Wind Editorial Sessions
About us

The North Wind is an independent student publication serving the Northern Michigan University community. It is partially funded by the Student Activity Fee. The North Wind digital paper is published daily during the fall and winter semesters except on university holidays and during exam weeks. The North Wind Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the student body, faculty, administration and area media.

Pizza Cat Vol. 10
Pizza Cat Vol. 10
Deirdre Northrup-RiestererApril 23, 2024

STDs and bed bugs: the real scares this October

Every student is dealt a different hand. In respect to that, I’ve never been dealt a one night stand and don’t anticipate on one any time soon.Relationships generally take time, commitment and trust. A relationship isn’t in the cards for me—at the moment. Hooking up, casual sex and one night stands thought have different meanings to me.

Clair

Personally, I don’t view sleeping with someone I just met as the same as a casual sex.  I wouldn’t have a one night stand. A consistent, no-strings attached situation? I beg to differ. Every student plays his/her cards according to his/her preference.

I prefer having sex with one person, 30 times rather than having 30 different one night stands.

Story continues below advertisement

After a couple times with one person, I feel free to spice things up, get artsy and apply geographic knowledge for a change of scenery. I would feel too limited with a hook up to try something daring. The fact I’d be hooking up with a stranger is risky enough.

Engaging in a random hookup happens because we’re in college, alcohol gets mixed with social scenes, late night texts get exchanged, etc.

Marquette isn’t Hollywood and it doesn’t take a lot of brainwork to know that a movie isn’t happening at 3 a.m. And that the only thing that will be “happening” is hide-and-seek with underwear the next morning, terrible bed head and a “corpse bride” catwalk home.

Over the years, I have grown to be paranoid about bed bugs. I don’t trust hotel room beds or hospital beds because of bed bug possibilities.

Why would I want to have multiple one night stands, trying out strange beds in Marquette? I would go to Art Van Furniture if I wanted to try out different beds. I’m a fan of backup plans. However, that is not the same as a morning-after trip to get checked for a sexually transmitted disease.

A survey in the book “The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and        Confused About Intimacy,” by Donna Freitas, surveyed U.S. students about after thoughts of hooking up.

“Of the 557 male and female students who responded to a question asking how they felt the morning after a hookup, 41 percent of those expressed sadness, regret and ambivalence,” author Donna Freitas said.

I may be the minority of young college women who aren’t open and willing to have one night stands, and I accept that.

Young college men who sleep around aren’t as harshly labeled as young college women who sleep around. This case is unfortunate, but it seems to be the reality.

I’ve learned over time that one night stands usually don’t end up with two people falling madly in love and living happily ever after:  NMU and Marquette aren’t the setting for  “The Notebook”, more like “American Pie.”

More to Discover