My aunt and uncle met at a sweet sixteen in high school. They dated through high school, but I can vividly remember, since my childhood, hearing about how they broke up for college and then magically still ended up getting married. I always saw this as the ultimate love story mixed with a fairy tale. I always thought that was just the way high school relationships went.
Flash forward to senior year of high school. The talk buzzed about which couples were breaking up, which were entering an open relationship, and which were, GASP! staying together. “But they could actually, like, get married” always followed the latter declaration. Outsiders attempted to make assumptions based on nothing regarding relationships that may not have been as transparent as they seemed, and the gossip flowed. Because, of course, what more is there to talk about senior year other than college acceptances, deferrals and rejections?
Between my friends from home and the people that I have met since coming to BC, I know examples of each of the situations previously stated. I have friends who are in long distance relationships, friends who still visit their exes but are in open relationships, and friends who have completely cut their ties with high school beaus.
This begs the question, what happens next? As a single girl observing all of this from an outsider’s perspective, I find the dynamics of these relationships very interesting. After the first few tough weeks of learning to live apart, I’m sure that many couples are getting into the swing of things. Texting, Skyping and Snapchat are all ways to help couples maintain their communication. The “Turkey Drop” was a phrase coined that depicts the chain of events occurring when couples reconnect for the first holiday break. These break-ups are attributed to the growing that happens when people are at college.
People meet new people and make new friends and no longer feel the strength of their old ties. While I can appreciate the sentiment and can whole-heartedly understand why some couples are so sure that they want to stay together, my only hang-up is on the couples who are not 100% sure. If you are 100% sure that you will never meet someone else you want to be with, then staying together is the right thing; however, if there is a glimmer of a chance that you see your future differently, I feel that it’s not fair to your significant other to keep them bound without any chance of a future. One piece of advice I gave to a friend from home when she was trying to navigate the transition from a high school to a college relationship was that she should leave her options open because she would be making so many new relationships.
Once my aunt told me that her decision to not stay with her high school sweetheart (and eventual husband) was a decision to close a door but not lock it. She shut it for the time being but always knew that they loved each other and would always be there for each other. They never experienced the reset that sometimes leads to a Turkey Drop.
One Fitzpatrick Hall freshman boy (who choses to remain nameless) made the following statement regarding the potential effect of the Turkey Drop on his life,:“the Turkey Drop would be the culmination of my most glorious hopes and dreams of college. In all seriousness though, I have met a lot of great girls here who have been off the market, because of boyfriends at home.” That being said, I may have a severely different point of view than others because I am single. In any case, whether you are about to be the turkey dropper or are an outsider eyeing someone in the hopes they will get dropped (sounds a little mean to me but, hey, to each their own), make sure you are doing things that will make your life more enjoyable whatever that may be.
Photo Sources:
http://awarofredrosses.blogspot.com/2010/05/cinderella-story.html
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/love/images/31831879/title/cute-couples-33-photo
http://2servingsoflifelovecrazy.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-door-closes-another-opens.html