For those who are preparing for a long-distance relationship in college or for those who are in it right now, I am here to share my experience and give some advice. The start of my relationship actually began as a long-distance relationship. My freshman year, I started dating my boyfriend who I have now been with for over two years. Everyone doubted that it would work, but we are as strong as ever.
Luckily, I only live three and a half hours away so I am still able to go home every so often to spend time with him. But I’m not going to sugar coat it, long distance is hard. For us to start dating my freshman year, we instantly had to adjust to dealing with a long-distance relationship. It was incredibly tough the first few months, particularly because I had a rough freshman year. Very quickly we became innovative in ways to communicate that made time go by faster and help us stay connected. Facetime became our best friend. We even made the purchase of Bond Touch bracelets which are communication bracelets with the touch of your finger that sends signals to your partner’s bracelet. They are a lot of fun and make being apart a little bit easier.
Although it is important to make time to talk with your significant other, it is also extremely important to focus on yourself. I felt myself freshman year constantly feeling sad that I was not around my boyfriend. The thing is you have to focus on the positive. You have to look at the bigger picture. Now that I have become more experienced with long distance, I have realized it is okay to not talk to your significant other constantly throughout the day. If anything, not being able to talk to them as much makes the time you do get to communicate that much more special. With me being in school and my boyfriend having a full-time job, we only get to talk so much. When we do get the chance to talk it is exciting because we get to talk about our day and anything that’s been on our mind. It also gives you something to look forward to everyday.
A lot of people will tell you that long distance won’t work, but I think it just depends on you and your partner’s communication. You also have to put trust forth in your partner. You have to understand each other’s priorities and time. You have to have enough love for one another. You have to respect their time and understand that some nights they may be too tired to stay up and talk and that is okay.
If you put forth the time and energy that a long-distance relationship takes, as well as communicate, you can have a successful relationship. Just remember that you will not always be long distance, and eventually it will all have been worth it.