The transition from being in a high school relationship to a college one can be stressful and certainly intimidating. As someone who is in what I like to call a medium distance relationship (30 minutes away), I know the hardships of being away from a partner. Here are some things that me and my partner apply to our relationship:
Find what communication level works best
Before me and my boyfriend came to college, we were fed a lot of advice from TikTok about what to do and how much to talk. A lot of people said not to text a lot throughout the day and to save it all for calls later in the night; this failed for me and my boyfriend. Me and him are such chatterboxes we just couldn’t stick to that advice. It felt awkward and disconnected, and sometimes we couldn’t call at night because of our schedules. We promise to at least facetime once a week and I highly suggest that. But overall I think it is important to find what works for you and your partner and find what makes you feel connected. I’m so glad me and him ditched the advice of strangers and did what works for us.
Making plans
Making plans is one of my favorite parts of my relationship since we are apart. It gives me something good to look forward to no matter how far out the plans are. My boyfriend and I implemented to always have a plan to see each other next. Usually towards the end of my and my boyfriends dates we take a look at our calendars and see when it looks like we can meet up again and set a date that way we always have a date to look forward to. We also like to do halfway meet ups during the week if there isn’t an available weekend coming up. Meeting halfway is also good in terms of gas expense as well. We also try to vary up our dates to not feel stuck in the same routine.
Honesty and Transparency
Two of the most important things in all relationships should be honesty and transparency. If something is wrong I always try to tell my boyfriend sooner rather than later. I know he isn’t a mind reader and it’s up to me to share my feelings and what’s bothering me but usually he can tell when something is up though. My boyfriend and I always try to talk out problems and feelings over the phone or voice memos because when it’s just text things can be misinterpreted without hearing a tone. But I always say never ever go to bed angry no matter how young or healthy one may be you never know what tomorrow brings plus it just feels easier to rest when you know you’re not waking up to continue a disagreement.