Image courtesy of Leah and Ajay.
Leah Wilson is a senior animation major and her boyfriend Ajay Ganapathy is a senior interactive design and game development major. They met at and still attend SCAD Atlanta and their future looks bright after graduation.
Aspen Evans: How did you two meet? How long have you been together?
Leah Wilson: I met Ajay through a mutual friend in the hub January 2013. We we were just friends until we both went to the SCAD Valentine’s day dance and poetry reading. The day after Valentines, we went on our first date and we’ve been together ever since, so that makes this February 15th our three-year anniversary. We plan on going to a nice Thai restaurant called Naan that we’ve never been to before.
Ajay Ganapathy: We met at a UNI Intercultural club event. Our friend Josh introduced us. Then we went to the Valentine’s day dance by poets with passion. We didn’t really know how to dance but that was ok because we liked each other. Then we went to R Thomas for our first date and we were instantly totally in love with each other.
AE: What are the perks of having a significant other while in college? What are the disadvantages?
LW: There are a lot of perks of having a significant other in college. You have someone to encourage you when your projects are tough, someone to bring you food and say you look fine when you haven’t slept in two days. Ajay is very supportive and I don’t know what I would do without him. I know that sounds so cliche, but I feel like I would have at least three times the amount of meltdowns if he weren’t there to help me through it.
AG: College can be really tough. Life, before and after, is really tough — especially as an artist. Leah and I know that we can count on each other no matter what — when your love for one another runs that deep, it can really give both of you a huge boost in confidence. It can be very tough to have faith in yourself when you’re facing new challenges. So it’s essential to have someone who has faith in you, whether it’s your significant other or your best friend, or your mentor. I can’t really think of any disadvantages because I view the relationship itself as the goal. To me, going to college and having a career are all part of supporting each other. I find fulfillment in caring for Leah and her caring for me.
AE: Have you guys faced any obstacles maintaining a balance between work, school and spending time together?
LW: There have been obstacles. We both were commuting for the first two years, so we couldn’t see each other as much outside of school, and we didn’t take the same classes, so we had to make time for each other. When Ajay got his apartment a year ago, it made things easier, but he was also freelancing, so sometimes we would just sit quietly and work together. Even though we were constantly working, it was totally worth it to be able to take a break and catch up on Netflix shows on the couch. It wasn’t what we were doing, it’s that we could do it together.
AG: Sometimes it’s tough to find time for each other with school, work, and the other parts of life. If you actively manage your time, and treat your relationship as an ongoing commitment that you keep up with, you will have a good relationship. If you treat it as a non-essential part of your life, it will fizzle. Like most things in life, a relationship is something you spend time and effort cultivating every day so that your love can grow stronger.AE: What advice would you recommend to other couples trying to find that balance?
LW: I think that it’s very important to find that balance between school, work and relationships. Otherwise, I would lose myself in my work. I know I make being in a relationship with Ajay sound really easy and amazing, and most of the time it is, but it takes effort. Sometimes (usually around midterms and finals) I get cranky and I take out my frustrations on Ajay even when it’s not his fault. I think that having to deal with so much stress is a disadvantage because not everyone would be as forgiving as Ajay. Sometimes you can be in a relationship with the wrong person and it just sucks the life out of you and makes everything more difficult. In those situations, you can put all the effort in and get nothing out and it’s not worth it to force it. Also, if you’re having trouble balancing your own life, it’s going to be twice as hard to balance it with someone else who doesn’t fit with you. I say this because the advice of “yes, all couples should try to be balanced all the time” is too generic and unrealistic. Real couples will get annoyed with each other because someone forgot to text the other back and not have enough time to spend together some weekends and that’s ok, because what matters is that you just want to be together, Valentines or any other day, fancy restaurant or no.
AG: I find it tough to give advice to other couples because people are complicated and there are so many factors that affect relationships. But, I think I have one piece of advice — if you take the effort to recognize all the good things your significant other does for you, they are more likely to take the time to do those things as well. Also, if you’re crunched for time, you can still show your love and appreciation by leaving your significant other love notes. Or you can do what Leah and I do — work together, and every now and then stand up to give each other hugs and kisses.
AE: How are you spending Valentine’s Day or if you don’t know yet, what would be your perfect Valentine’s Day date?
LW: We could be eating cheese and crackers with a bottle of wine alone in the apartment and I would be happy. (I’m very easily satisfied).
AG: For Valentine’s Day we are going to have a real good time. We are going to eat out, and then have wine and cheese and crackers, and spend time together. For me, a perfect Valentine’s Day date is any date where I can show Leah how much I love her and how I fall more and more in love with her every day.