As autumn comes to a close, so too will many relationships. By the time the first winter snow falls, you may find yourself falling into the arms of a new partner. As a graduating senior with plenty of experience in the matter, I urge you to think about the way you approach your sexual adventures here at Fort Lewis.

This year FLC’s enrollment topped off at about 3,700 students. For a college, that is very small. CU Boulder has 33,000 students enrolled. Our smaller class sizes may be beneficial for learning they may not be ideal for sexual adventuring.

My advice: Don’t sleep with your physics partner, the guy (or girl) that lives across the hall from you, and avoid sleeping with people within your major…At least not until the end of the year.

Understand that even if the people you choose to have sex with don’t lie within these categories, you will probably still see them more often than you would like. They will be in line in front of you at Animas Perks, working at the desk next to you in the library, in your gen-ed classes. Or if you make the mistake I did of having a very specific type, they will most likely be friends with one another and will decide to get breakfast together at the restaurant where you work.

I can’t stress the proximity issue enough. While mistakes are important for learning, I wish I had someone to warn me about the fact that one-night stands would never really be that. Fort Lewis College: where a one-night stand actually means four years of dodging eye-contact from the couches in the student union.

While the proximity issue here at FLC presents social risks, health and safety risks also play an important role in your sexual adventures.

My advice: Use condoms. Get tested after every partner you have. Get tested, get tested, get tested. Just do it™.

Don’t derail your education by getting pregnant or impregnating someone else. Don’t put yourself at risk for sexually transmitted infections. Don’t put anyone else at risk.

Remember that consent is as sexy as it is mandatory.

If consent is a confusing concept for you, please see this informative video.

If consent is not confusing to you, keep this concept in practice, have fun, be safe, and enjoy sex. Just remember that you may see the person in the hallways every day for the next four years.