Coming into college with a boyfriend can be pretty difficult. More than likely, you and your beau are headed to different universities with the hope of “making it work.” Let me be the first to tell you, it can work. Although people will say you’re doomed to the Thanksgiving Break dump, or that your boyfriend is hooking up with girls at his school, it’s not always the case. No need to abandon your hometown hottie for fear of a pretty floormate seducing him, because I’m going to tell you how to make an intercollegiate relationship work.
Prioritize
Regardless of whether or not you’re in a relationship, sorting out your priorities should be, well, a priority! Figuring out what is most important in your life helps you balance out your schedule. With school, your social life, campus activities and a part time job, college is a busy time. If you want to make any relationship work, make sure you balance your schedule to include everything you need to get done! Without a solid list of priorities, it’s easy for a girl to get distracted by trying to keeping in touch with her long distance boyfriend.
Make Time for Each Other
Like I mentioned before, this is one of the busiest times in your life. Your nights and weekends aren’t automatically open like they used to be. Going into a long-distance relationship, it seems as easy as calling your man any free chance you get. However, conflicting schedules complicate things. To make it easy, compare each others schedules at the beginning of the semester and work out when it’s best to talk to each other. This may seem formal, but it eliminates the pressure to always be available and you’ll have your conversations to look forward to.
Keep Each Other Informed
Most couples in an inter-collegiette relationship see each other about one to two times a month. This means each of you will spend plenty of weekends without your lover and with your friends. If you plan to hit the town with your girls, I recommend giving your man heads-up on your plans. He’s probably pretty bummed that he can’t be with you, so letting him in on your plans will make him feel included in your life. A quick text saying you’re going to a party with your friends and that you miss him is a little reminder that you’re still thinking of him.
Remove the Pressure
After spending weeks apart, it’s likely your expectations of your weekend reunion with your boyfriend are probably high. You’ll want to catch up on everything you’ve missed, have a perfect dinner date and take advantage of any alone time you can get. But we all know things don’t always go perfectly. He might not be up to listening to your gossip, you might burn dinner or your nosy roommate might make it impossible to show your man how much you’ve missed him. Get rid of all the pressure and just enjoy your time with your special someone. If something goes wrong, just go with the flow instead of wasting valuable time.
Maintaining a relationship with someone who doesn’t go to your school is hard, but if you’re serious about your relationship, it’s worth it. Don’t let distance deter you from being with the person you want to be with, because if there’s a will, there’s a way!