The minute you move into college and throughout your four, more or less, years, there are relationships that will form and blossom, wither and die, or stay neutral. Fragile and volatile romantic relationships, especially, are extremely prominent within these young adult and adult years. Everyone knows at least one person who is in a long distance relationship with a person not located on campus, whether that relationship is as smooth as a river, or rocky as, well, the Rockies. In my opinion, most of us will also deal with this issue at one point in our lives, especially if we are close to family and others back at home.
My situation with this topic is currently going better than I could have ever hoped for, and my story starts with senior year at high school at the restaurant where I worked; I met my loving boyfriend there, and although we have had our ups and downs, and even some breaks, we have been dating for almost a year and a half. I’m originally from a small town in Maryland, only 45 minutes from Newark, which is where he lives and goes to school; so, I don’t know if you could technically call us long-distance at this point; but nevertheless, sometimes things get tough and you really want to see that person at a moment’s notice. You have to realize though, that you will just have to wait it out, and that unfortunately you aren’t as lucky as some who are able to constantly be with or see their significant other. However, that is your choice, and you need to deal with it like an adult, even if sometimes you don’t feel like you are one.
To mitigate the “love-sickness” and separation anxiety, I made sure to plan ahead before I moved in during the Fall, and made sure that my boyfriend and I would be able to set up one day a week, at least, where we would be able to see each other. This of course, has been working rather perfectly so far, and this way we can both look forward to that one day to spend quality time together. Luckily, with the help of new technology, FaceTime and Snapchat anyone who really misses their significant other is able to talk to them in real-time, face to face.
So, anyone who is dealing with the same topic, know that you are absolutely not alone; you’ll have to endure seeing lovey-dovey couples on campus or on Main street all the time, and feel like at times that it “just isn’t fair.” Just stay strong, and know that if the relationship is really worth it, everything will fall into place and workout in the end— which is not always what you want to hear—but, truly, ask anyone who has done long distance successfully; trust me—they know.