By Rachael Smith, Alumna of Radford University

When I was in college, I would often heard girls jokingly say, “I’m giving up on my major and am just going to get my MRS degree.”

Hardly any of them meant what they said, but I’m sure there are quite a few girls out there that would jump at the chance to be whisked off their feet by a rich, smart, handsome man and be taken care of for the rest of their lives.

However, especially in this age of "girl power," many of us strong-willed ladies intend to finish college with a degree in something we are passionate about, and then, in turn, obtain a full-time job doing something we love with that degree we all worked so hard for. Many girls do want to get married someday, but things aren’t like they used to be. We don’t feel the need to settle down with kids right out of college. We want to spread our wings and see all the things we can do independently.

However, one Princeton alumna disagrees with this. In a recent letter she wrote to The Daily Princetonian, she strongly advises young women to find a husband while still in college.

Susan Patton writes: "For most of you, the cornerstone of your future and happiness will be inextricably linked to the man you marry, and you will never again have this concentration of men who are worthy of you. Here's what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate."

I really hate that she says the whole bit about our future happiness being linked to our future hubbies. Has Patton been living under a rock for the past 60 years?

Another note, yes, Princeton is a prestigious Ivy League school filled with geniuses, I’m sure. However, there are plenty of other smart men and women around that have not attended Princeton or maybe didn’t go to college at all.

Patton continues on this note: "Smart women can't (shouldn't) marry men who aren't at least their intellectual equal. As Princeton women, we have almost priced ourselves out of the market. Simply put, there is a very limited population of men who are as smart or smarter than we are. And I say again — you will never again be surrounded by this concentration of men who are worthy of you. Of course, once you graduate, you will meet men who are your intellectual equal — just not that many of them."

Sometimes my mother tells me all about how I should be “equally yoked” with the man I end up with, but I don’t entirely agree. You love who you love. I personally wouldn’t want to end up with a guy who is as dumb as a bag of bricks, but some girls find those guys charming and sweet. It’s all about preference, people!

Moving on to bigger and more important subjects, according to Patton, girls should also always marry older men. So basically, by the time you ladies are seniors, you’re done. You can’t date a junior or sophomore. No way, says Patton.

"As freshman women, you have four classes of men to choose from. Every year, you lose the men in the senior class, and you become older than the class of incoming freshman men. So, by the time you are a senior, you basically have only the men in your own class to choose from, and frankly, they now have four classes of women to choose from. Maybe you should have been a little nicer to these guys when you were freshmen?"

Wow, just wow. So if you don’t have a man by the time you have graduated, it’s probably because you were so rotten to every guy you’ve ever met?

At the end of the day, fall in love whenever you want and don’t try to force it. Be single if you want. Everything works in time, so don’t rush things.

Look out for yourself, and you can rule the world!

Image courtesy of Sharron Goodyear / FreeDigitalPhotos.net