By Suzanne Briggs
Breaking out of peoples” shells and doing something different are important when seeking a significant other.
At the relationship seminar, “Survivor: Dating and Marriage,” Brent Barlow”s MFHD 403 Research and Community Education Practicum taught free classes on how to survive in the jungle of dating.
At the class, “Psychic Dating (how to know if somebody is interested in you),” the student teachers said the biggest problem when finding somebody to date is not changing their circumstances.
“People do things out of habit and don”t do anything to fix the situation to find somebody,” said Nicole Roubicek, student instructor.
People need to start by looking for people who have the same qualities they desire in themselves because people attract what they reflect, she said.
“But people can”t ignore many possible candidates that are currently developing these attributes,” Roubicek said.
Joanna Bowden, another student instructor, outlined several goals people need to set to get what they want out of dating.
Two of those goals include being action-oriented and thinking small so the goals will be accomplishable.
Stephen Joel Jensen, 24, a senior form Palm Harbor, Fla., majoring in philosophy, said the subject of dating is objective.
“Figuring out if humans like you is common sense and everything will work how it naturally should,” he said.
The student instructors said one of the main problems with dating is men and women speak different languages.
“People need to learn how to understand what both sexes are trying to say by learning their language and communicating,” Roubicek said.
The teachers told the audience they need to find things that are not working for them and change it.
Roubicek told a story about how her cousin changed the way he asked women out.
“He lived on the third floor and took a fishing pole and put a sign on the bottom of the string that said ”If you catch me, you get a date,”” she said. “He hung it over his balcony and waited for a girl to pull on it and then asked her out.”
Roubicek said he changed his situation and did something different. He was action-oriented.
The teachers said every circumstance will determine the situation, and relationships naturally change over time.
Mike Tanner, 24, a senior from Los Angeles, Calif., majoring in economics, said the class was very educational.
“The point is that both sides of dating are messed up,” Tanner said. “There are so many misunderstandings, and we just need to learn to relax, and it will work.”
