I remember when I was younger, I would watch romantic movies like A Walk to Remember and Notting Hill and think to myself, "I want that." Watching the stars on a clear blue night, having dinners at fancy restaurants, dancing under the stars; I wanted the romance. Then I got older and went to university and college and unfortunately I quickly came to realize that kind of romance only exists onscreen.

I truly believe this is because most guys think they don't have to try, they don't need to be romantic, and maybe that's true. Think about it, why are guys romantic? They want something from us, and let's be honest — most of the time, they want sex. Maybe it has gotten to the point where we make it too easy for guys. I mean, how many of you can honestly say that every guy you have been with was a romantic? I am guessing less than five per cent of you.

In our society, sex has less value associated with it than it ever has before, so guys don't have to make these big gestures to get it anymore. I was talking to one of my friends and he said, "We don't have to plan five romantic dates anymore when we can get laid after two." So here we are wondering why guys are less romantic, and it's plain and simple: they don't have to be.

There is also the possibility that romance doesn't exist for the average student because we can't fit it into our hectic schedules. We are so busy with schoolwork and jobs that we have little time for romance. Who has time for a candlelight dinner when you have a million assignments and midterms coming up?

I hate when I hear guys use the money excuse. Being romantic has nothing to do with having money. We are not asking for dinners at fancy restaurants that will cost you an arm and leg or roses delivered to our door once a week. Romance can be a home-cooked meal or just a little note when we wake up in the morning saying how much you love us.

Then again, romance as a dying art can be a result of the tech age. With text messages and Facebook, a guy doesn't need to go through all these romantic gestures anymore to tell you he loves you, when he can just send you a simple emoticon. Whatever happened to the guys who throw rocks at your window then sing you a romantic love song? I understand that it might be a little extreme, but you know what I am trying to say. We are a society that values speed — we want things done fast. Technology has made everything easy and fast for people; we value our time and appreciate when things don't take up too much of it. Some people look at romance as an inconvenience that takes up too much of their valuable time.

People ultimately don't really care to spend the time on romance when it isn't a necessity. Don't get me wrong, there are guys who are still romantics and treat their girlfriends or significant others like princesses and there isn't a dull day in their relationship. This does not occur every day and for the most part it hardly happens at all. Maybe everyone should learn to make an effort to add a little romance in their life, because if things keep going this way, romance might soon be gone forever. Perhaps we have convinced ourselves that true romance doesn't exist; that way when we don't get it, we aren't let down. Sometimes when we set our hopes too high we inevitably get hurt, and who wants that? However, there is still that bit of hope in some of us that one day our perfect guy will make us feel as lucky and as loved as the girls in the movies.