When you were in high school, how important was it for you to find boy/girl friend? What about in college (if you went)?

Hormones!

We get so many questions here about “does he like me” or “how can I keep him” or “how can I get a girlfriend” and the like. A lot of these seem to come from teenagers—age thirteen on up. Some seem to come from older folks in their twenties. By the time folks get into their thirties, it’s more about infidelity and should I stay with him/her, etc.

I know that finding a lover/partner/spouse is very important to just about everybody, but what I’m wondering is when it became important to you, and how important was it. Some people, it’s all they think of. Others are “eh, it’ll happen when it happens.” Others don’t care at all for a while, and then suddenly it hits them—like women in their late thirties who find (apparently suddenly) that their opportunity to have a baby is just about gone.

So how important was it? When did it become important? How crazy do you think you were then, looking back on it from your perspective now (or, if you are in it, how crazy does it feel)?