Johanna said she likes not having to deal with jealousy.

Sarah said she enjoys spending more time with her friends.

Ryan said he’s able to save money.

While some college students are busy trying to find new relationships, many Kent State students are focusing on the benefits of being single.

Senior accounting major Johanna Lawson said she loves being single because she is free to do whatever she wants.

“You are able to go out and have fun with your friends and not have to worry about your boyfriend or girlfriend being jealous of you having fun,” Lawson said.

Senior nursing major Sarah Jensen spent her first three years at Kent State single, and she said she wouldn’t have spent them any other way.

“I was able to make some of the best friends,” Jensen said. “I came to Kent with only a few friends here, and now I know someone everywhere I go.”

She said independence is something that everyone needs before starting a relationship. Students need to know who they are and be happy with themselves before they can begin to make someone else happy in a relationship, she said.

“This is the first time many students are independent from their parents,” Jensen said. “Try figuring out who you are before rushing into any commitment you aren’t sure of.”

Saving money is another reason students are staying single. Ryan Gerber, junior management and information systems major, said when he is single, he always has money, but his money tends to disappear when he is in a relationship. He said he loves to pay for his date, but money is always tight, and women sometimes don’t understand that.

Susan Roxburgh, associate professor of sociology, said students not in a relationship don’t have to deal with the stress of whether friends or parents like the significant other, birth control or worrying where the relationship is going.

“It takes a lot of energy to start and keep a relationship,” Roxburgh said. “Many of the problems depend on who you end up with.”

Roxburgh said no study has been done to determine how the problems in relationships affect schoolwork, but added if someone ends up with a serious student, he or she will probably be a better student.

Roxburgh said students should take their time and not rush into any relationship, especially freshmen because everything is already new to them and rushing into a commitment so quickly may create a false sense of intimacy.

For those who are attached, Roxburgh recommends keeping some independence by maintaining other friendships outside the relationship.

The Web site www.collegecandy.com has a list of benefits to being single, such as students can do whatever they please, women save money by getting free drinks from men at the bars and students don’t have to worry about their significant other when they are out with their single friends.

“Don’t come to college automatically looking for a relationship,” Jensen said. “Get a chance to experience college life and make friends. A relationship will fall in place when you’re ready and you meet the right person.”

Contact student life reporter Kelli Koch at [email protected].