Long distance relationships are some of the most complicated things to maintain, especially for us as Elon women. We thrive on working hard, getting good grades, and having fun with our friends, all while trying to maintain relationships that began miles away. Whether our relationships are with our boyfriends, best friends, or family members, we all know that they hit rough patches from time to time, and cause us to step back and evaluate how we have changed.
Danielle, a current sophomore, is a strong-willed girl who has definitely experienced the ups and downs of a long distance relationship. Danielle’s boyfriend of four years Jake attends school almost ten hours away. “Before college, we were inseparable. People got concerned if they didn’t see us together,” she said. However, once she arrived at Elon and was thrown into a new life full of parties and friends, her relationship started to struggle. “At first things were great. Then I started to get jealous of his new fraternity, nervous when he wouldn’t return my phone calls, and paranoid over almost everything. We started to argue over the most pointless things,” she explained. In order to save their relationship, the two soon started to set rules for one another, and knew that following these rules would keep them strong despite the distance. “We started to call each other every night before we went out, and as soon as we got home,” she said, “We would have fun while we were with our friends, but didn’t dance with anyone else, and kept in touch all night.” These rules became standard, and helped the two move forward for the rest of the year. To this day, Danielle and Jake are still a couple, and plan to stay together throughout college regardless of any hardships. “He’s my best friend,” Danielle said, “I wouldn’t want to be with anybody else.”
Unfortunately, some of us are not as lucky as Danielle and find ourselves growing apart from the people we love. Another sophomore at Elon, Katie, met her best friend freshman year of high school. “We clicked almost immediately,” she said, “we had the same interests, the same friends, and we became the best of friends in almost no time at all.” As the years progressed, their friendship was tested, but always withstood the hard times. After both girls were accepted to college, they quickly realized their choices were extremely far apart and it would be very difficult to see each other on a regular basis. “We promised each other that no matter where we ended up, we would stay just as close,” Katie said. However, as soon as Katie began her freshman year, their
relationship quickly changed from talking every day to having to look at Facebook just to see what was going on in each other’s lives. “I talked to her so many times about reconnecting,” Katie explained, “but in the end, I feel like she got too caught up in her new friends and left me behind. It took me some time, but I know I’m better off.” It took strength, but Katie has now established herself at Elon and is in love with her life and her new friends.
Long distance relationships get the best of us sometimes, and although the stress may cause us to want to give up, as strong and smart Elon women we are challenged to put forth the effort to make these relationships work. They may go awry, we may grow apart from our friends, but in the end, the people that are truly worth it will always be with us, no matter where we go in life.