Sometimes “naive” really means “different from me.”
Ask yourself: Is she actually naive, or just more trusting than you’d prefer? College Stories. My Girlfriend is too naive--- ...
College is where ideals get tested. Lena believed in the best versions of people; I believed in protecting those ideals from being exploited. Small incidents stacked up. A lab partner promised to be accountable and disappeared, leaving Lena to take the blame. A craigslist sale turned into a scam she shrugged off as “a lesson.” Each time, she forgave quickly and kept trusting. I became sharper—questioning, calculating, skeptical. I started correcting her in front of others, thinking my realism was necessary. She started to shrink. Sometimes “naive” really means “different from me
After the fight, we did the hard work. Not to change one another into safe, predictable versions, but to understand the reasons we held our stances. I began to teach boundaries—how to say no, how to verify, how to protect herself financially and emotionally—without undermining her optimism. She reminded me why it mattered to keep hope alive, to offer trust as a starting point rather than a currency to be guarded. We learned to argue without annihilating: to call each other out, then to listen. Ask yourself: Is she actually naive, or just
If she’s open to it, suggest these college survival habits: