Dating can be a real bitch. But sort of like bad hair days, stubbed toes or untimely mustard stains, we've all been there. From the good times — the times that make you want to write haikus and sing Celine Dion songs, to the dates that make you want to die and get resurrected just to have the pleasure of dying again, dating is one of the few experiences we as human beings share.

That said, I still don't get why we do it. Especially after going on a succession of bad dates this summer, one ending with my date pushing his junk on me, then pushing a $15 cab fare in my hand and telling me never to call him again only after I asked him if he would kindly remove his junk from my leg, or else I'll shove my stiletto up his you-know-what.

Needless to say, I never heard from him again.

I heard once it's better to be alone than to wish you were alone. As a senior who's never had a serious relationship in her life, I'm freakin' sick of being alone. I wrote a dating column last year with sociology professor and relationship author, Pepper Schwartz. We talked for hours about men and women and love, and how things can go from great to sucking in a matter of months or weeks (or judging by the inner circadian rhythm of my dating history, a matter of hours).

Though the context of our conversation was always within the realm of dating, what we ended up talking about was life: goals, dreams, butterflies and disappointments, but most importantly, of passion. Dr. Schwartz told me relationships are important because they force you to examine not only your date, but also yourself.

You have to know what you want to get it, while at the same time being open to compromise, without compromising your core. Not always an easy task. She told me not to look at a bad date or a bad relationship as failure, but a learning experience. She taught me that, yes, sometimes it is necessary to civilly finish your tomato bisque on a date with someone you wouldn't even pick to be on your dodgeball team. Because in the future, that experience will help you narrow down what you do want.

Now in my last quarter at the UW, I want to impart with you all my knowledge of four years of dating in Seattle (and a short summer stint in New York City, the Amazon of the dating kingdom). This column is dedicated to the good, the bad and the ugly. We will cry together. We will laugh together. But guaranteed, there will be something in here that everyone can relate to. Topics will range from what not to say on a first date to the texting phenomenon and how it's destroying communication as we know it, to interracial dating.

I'm open to suggestions. So, if you feel so inclined, drop me an email and share with me a topic you'd be interested in my musing about later in the quarter.

[Reach columnist Erin Hicks at features@thedaily.washington.edu.]