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Maryland | Wellness > Sex + Relationships

Meeting the Parents – How to make a great first impression

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Ava Jankowski Student Contributor, University of Maryland
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Maryland chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Since the start of this school year, relationships have changed. 

These changes include starting long distance, break-ups, or many new relationships forming. With both Thanksgiving and winter break coming up, students are traveling to see their partner over break, meaning that it is finally time to meet the parents.  

Meeting the parents is a big step – it signifies that your relationship is getting more serious and that you both want to introduce your significant other into your world. Since parents are outside of college life, this step is more intentional than meeting each other’s friends. Clearly, they want you to be included in every aspect of their lives.

Making a good first impression is important,it can determine how your partner’s parents view you, especially since you will not be seeing them too often. 

Here are a few tips for meeting the parents: 

Look presentable – For a first impression, it is very important that you look nice. This does not mean you have to be formal, but it might be time to trade in sweats for your favorite pair of jeans. Putting a little bit of effort into your appearance will go a long way.  

Ask questions – It is super nerve-wracking to meet your significant other’s parents, but do not forget to ask about them too. Some suggestions are talking about their college experience (if they had one), work and family. You can also let the questions flow naturally. Just make sure that you are not spending all of your time talking about yourself.  

Be yourself – Your partner’s parents want to get to know you and understand what their kid sees in you.  Parents want to support their kids; one way of doing this is to support their relationships.  So, if you have any funny stories or interesting facts about yourself, now is the time to share.  

Relax – Meeting your significant other’s parents is a big deal, but it also means that you and your partner are ready to prioritize each other!  Enjoy this time getting to know their family and, furthermore, your partner on another level.  

Now that you can confidently meet the parents, you can look forward to the trip instead of being nervous.  This experience will bring you closer to your significant other, along with being a fun way to explore a new place.  

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Ava Jankowski

Maryland '29

Ava is a first-year journalism major on the pre-law track at the University of Maryland. She is from Pittsburgh, PA, and loves shopping, fashion, listening to music, reading, writing, travelling, and spending time with friends and family.
Ava also writes for The Teen Magazine, where she was formerly an editor for the style section. She has had over twenty publications on that platform, some of which were popular features for the magazine. She also attended The School of the New York Times in the summer of 2024, and was featured twice on their website: the first time being for a highlight of a fashion article she had written and the second being a student feature about her experience at the program. She is very excited to continue to have more experiences in the field of journalism.