Students gathered in the DUC on Sunday to hear “dating doctor” David Coleman speak on campus, in an event organized by Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society.

Coleman, who makes a career out of offering dating and romance advice, spoke with Student Life about his dating advice for college students.

Coleman gives college students three main pieces of dating advice. Firstly, he says not to take love too seriously.

“Never mistake infatuation for love. You don’t have a clue if you’re in love,” he said. “You may be in lust, you may be in deep like. You are attracted to the qualities in others that you are missing in yourself.”

Secondly, he encourages students to expand their social circles in order to meet new potential partners.

“It’s called enhancing your sphere of influence. Increasing the number of people you meet through the things you do and the people you know. Enhance your sphere of influence by getting involved on campus. The more things you do and the more people you know, the more people you are going to meet,” he said.

Lastly, he says students should stay clear of relationships based off of obligation.

Still, he recognizes that college dating often takes untraditional forms.

“What most people do is, ‘my group of friends hang out with your group of friends.’ You are in the comfort of your group of friends. It’s called an intimacy defense mechanism. If you want to be more intimate you can pull them aside. It shields you from ever having to act truly one on one if you don’t want to,” Coleman said.

Heading into Valentine’s Day, Coleman cautioned that the weeks surrounding the holiday are often difficult for couples.

“This is hurricane season for breakup season. A lot of breakups happen this week and next week. Valentine’s Day forces couples to take a quick inventory of where they stand. Sometimes these made-for-shopping holidays force couples to take a look at and examine the status of their relationship,” he said.