My daughter is in an open relationship, but I can tell she's unhappy. When she first told me about it, I asked genuine questions out of curiosity, but she became defensive. She even tried to guilt me into being more progressive and open-minded. I know that in this day and age, there is a whole new way to date, but as a mother, it seems like my daughter has agreed to this dynamic because she likes her boyfriend.
That college is not always the 'path.' Some people don't need to go to college immediately after high school. Sometimes a gap year is not enough. I have met lots of people from the various jobs I had who tried to go to college and found out it wasn't for them. Our generation is told to go to college or university or else it's the end of the world for us. There are so many paths you can take after high school like being in an apprenticeship, taking a basic full-time job, and so on.