"Do Guys Care About Relationship Experience?"

Redbook

By Aaron Traister, REDBOOK

DEAR WHYS GUY:

"I'm a senior in high school and I have never dated, and I fear that this will interfere with dating in college. Do guys care if a girl has not dated before? Do they have a problem if someone hasn't had their first kiss by college?"

Related: What Your Man Really Thinks in Bed

DEAR REDBOOK READER:

I don't normally answer questions from teenagers because of my cursing and general inappropriateness, however I saw a lot of myself in this question so I felt compelled to give you straight (and hopefully appropriate) curse-free answer.

Here's to late bloomers! I didn't have a real relationship until I met Karel at age 22, and I think that was a good thing. I didn't accumulate large amounts of unpleasant baggage, and I didn't have any weird expectations about what our life together should look like.

People assume that there is some time frame that they need to conform to be normal, and that's just not true, despite what you see on TV, like on Dawson's Creek (that show is still popular with the young people, right?), and the fact that a lot of kids at your high school are probably dating. I'll let you in on a little post-collegiate-mortgage-having secret: I don't know many people over the age of 30 who consider their high school romances to be particularly important or educational. Take your time and move at your own pace, don't stress because you didn't date in high school and don't try to immediately push yourself into something when you get to college.

Remember the only rule: "Never fall in love at college." Wait, maybe it's the Jersey Shore where you're not supposed to fall in love... well, judging by the college kids who rent in my neighborhood there may not be much of a difference. My point is, be confident in taking your time, when you force something because of what you think other people expect, you can wind up with an unpleasant Situation on your hands.

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