One-night stands: The awkward, thrilling, scandalous story of many college students’ lives. The majority of people I know experience one-night stands on their nights out and I think it’s becoming a major staple in our sexual culture today.

The thing about one-night stands is you have to accept them for what they are, including the good, the bad and the ugly. After all, one-night stands are essentially just sex with strangers, which is a little scary and bound to never go as planned, right?

The good

Meeting a person at a party can be the best part of your night, and it has you feeling full of hope. If you two are getting along well enough, then it’s natural to go back with a stranger to either their place or yours. But, be wary if they start to direct you toward the dorms (a mistake my friends have made once or twice).

If a one-night stand turns out to be successful, you two might actually want to see each other again. In this case, you got lucky and were able to finally meet someone who could potentially end up making you happy (yay!). Personally, I’ve never had a one-night stand turn into a blossoming relationship, but my best friend is happily in love with her boyfriend who she met on a street corner one night. Happily ever afters really do exist.

Even if your one-night stand doesn’t spiral into something more, hopefully you were still able to have a passionate, steamy night of love-making with a total stranger. Sex with strangers of course has its risks, but the air of mystery that comes with getting intimate with someone you don’t know can be magnetic. The story you get to tell your friends the next day could also make going along with the ride of a one-night stand worthwhile. We all know every one-night stand comes with its own unique story.

The bad

A consequence of a one-night stand could be dealing with any messy complications you or the other person creates. Perhaps you took a liking to the stranger you met but they wanted nothing more than a one-night stand. Then you’re left with hurt feelings and shattered hopes (a little dramatic, but the pain does cut deep). Or in my case, you end up with a semi-stalker who texts you every day for a month reminding you of how cute he thought it was when you sneezed during sex— uh, what?

If a one-night stand turns bad, then you could find yourself in a possibly unsafe or dangerous situation. Use caution when it comes to taking home or going home with strangers, and never go home with them if you are worried about your safety.

The ugly

One-night stands that go miserably, horribly wrong can land you in a situation that is both freaky and shocking. Like I said, going home with a complete stranger comes with a large amount of mystery, which means there’s a lot you don’t know about their lives. What if you walk into their apartment and it’s filled with ten parrots? Or they have an overwhelmingly large rock collection? Traveling into the land of the unknown can force you to stumble across things you may have wished you never saw.

Emma Vidak-Benjamin can be reached at features [email protected] or @gnarlyemma on Twitter.