Illustration by Sophie Cooper-Ellis.

It’s Friday night, and that babe that you saw in the climbing gym is standing across from you at the party, givin’ you the bedroom eyes. All of the sudden, the beat drops and “Partition” hits the room. Which means you hit the dance floor. Before you know it, that babe and you are fully embracing the conviction that there ain’t nothing wrong with a little bump and grind. Fast forward through the walk home, the foreplay, the clothes on the floor and the great sex to eight o’clock on Monday morning when you walk into what you thought was a very large lecture class of General Chemistry. Sitting across from you is the babe.

Suddenly what you thought was a one-night stand now has four more mornings attached… for the rest of the semester. Living at Whitman in a closed-cell community that is isolated in date-perfect wheat fields, is it possible to truly have a one-night stand? Our conclusion: probably not. This means that when you get ready to go out on the weekend, keep in mind that this person is not just going to disappear. Sometimes that is O.K.! We’re big advocates of one-night stands that turn into two-night stands that devolve into full-fledged flings.

A one-night stand is a type of relationship. A good one-night stand can be a totally successful thing that can fulfill emotional and sexual needs. Unless you feel those love juices starting to surge, why should we anticipate or even desire anything more than a single night of great sex? The one-night stand is the pinnacle of 21st Century sexual liberation; it acknowledges that desire does not have to be linked to expectation and attachment.

In Hollywood there is always an emotional spark between two people (almost exclusively heterosexual) that fuels their sexual desire. In contrast, the one-night stand proves that you do not need to know anything about someone –– even their major –– to desire them. And that is O.K. We all have sexual needs and you should feel empowered to realize those needs without the weight of judgment.

Embrace the one-night stand! We have been brainwashed that a successful relationship means a long term, monogamous partnership. Turn that Walk of Shame into a Walk of Fame! You have successfully fulfilled your human need for sex, and that is nothing to be ashamed of.

*Disclaimer: Whenever we talk about sex, it must be consensual between the involved parties.