The V Word Waiting for sex: It’s not as uncommon as you think

Story: Rachel Myers
Photos: Emily Rasinski

photo illustration: Todd Baker

Demetria Carson spoke barely above a whisper as she pulled from her wallet a faded blue card she’s been carrying with her since she was 16.

“It’s a reminder of a choice I made when I was very young,” Carson says.

She has it memorized and recites, “My wedding gift. As the ultimate gift, on this, our wedding day, I give you my virginity. I give myself to you untouched by another so that we two can become one. I commit myself to you forever.”

Carson, fourth-year pre-med major, plans to give the card to her husband on their wedding night.

“It’s hard sometimes because I’m human,” Carson says. “But I don’t feel isolated. There are lots of people out there who value their virginity.”

Carson is not alone in her status as a virgin on a college campus. While most studies on the subject focus primarily on teenagers in high school, the most recent study of college-age students and virginity was conducted by the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, published in 1997 by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. It reported that about 20 percent of college students in America between 18 and 24 are virgins.

But a major problem with these findings, and others, is the gray area of what is virginity and what is not.

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