When someone tells you they are in a long-distance relationship with someone who lives 1,000 miles away, it usually warrants one of the following responses: “Why in your right mind would you do that?” or “That’s adorable, you must really love each other!”
Long-distance relationships are by no means easy. They require a lot of trust—not to be suspicious, jealous, sneaky or doubtful. Once you have an established grounding in that, you can now proceed to understand how a long-distance relationship is really possible.
Here are five reasons why a long-distance relationship in college is not as bad as you think, from a firsthand opinion. So when you are deciding whether or not to keep your long-term high school sweetheart, that person you met over winter break browsing Tinder and decided to make it official, or perhaps the person from high school who you didn’t hit off with until the end of senior year, I strongly encourage you to read this.
While you may not be able to see your long-distance lover frequently during the school year, breaks are a great time to reconnect and spend time with each other. This makes planning things on breaks extremely easy and adventurous. Something as simple as going to a cozy neighborhood diner becomes the highlight of your week.
Of course it would be nice to take them to State Street Brats or The Old Fashioned every weekend for dates, but unfortunately they can’t fly out to Madison every weekend. Since you would get to see them on breaks, you have a lot more time than you would if you were in the middle of rush week or have two midterms the next day. You would be able to go out and spend time with each other without having to worry about any of that.
Another perk of a long-distance relationship is that your grades won’t drop because you are spending too much time studying during the semester at school and during exam time. If you are serious about your partner, you probably will not go to parties for the sole purpose of meeting people. This indirectly
gives you more time to study and stay focused on academics. That being said, hopefully you will save at least two or three hours a week to Skype, Facetime, or write your special someone on the weekend when you are both free to talk because that is extremely important.
Everyone needs study breaks. What will be a better way to spend them than talking to someone you miss a whole lot (and trust me, you will miss them beyond words)? If anything, it will give you something to look forward to and can be motivation for getting through your school assignment.
In a long-distance relationship, your partner does not take time away from your friends while you are at school. You can still have your guys or gals movie night.
True, it is very hard when all of your friends go to parties and date night with their partners on Thursday and Friday nights, while you are stuck at home eating ice cream and doing homework. But if a moment like this strikes, you are only a Skype call away from your significant other.
Expect your social media presence to absolutely skyrocket. Expect the first “Like” and comment on Facebook and Instagram to be from them. Expect your Snapscore to increase by 1,000 points every week, just because of them alone. It is safe to say that everyone will be aware of the fact that you are taken. Ignore the backlash from people who say that face-to-face contact is the best form of communication, because sometimes you have to take what you can get when you’re 1,000 miles away. And that’s okay.
Probably the most important thing to remember is that absence makes the heart grow fonder. After weeks, or maybe months, of not seeing them, there is no better feeling then stepping out of your car and getting the biggest hug ever. You are immediately reminded that all of the tough times away were definitely worth the wait.
Adam is a sophomore majoring in statistics. What are your thoughts on long-distance relationships? Have you ever been a part of one? Do you agree with Adam in that it’s worth it? Please send all questions, comments and concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
