By Errol Hammond –
High School love. Lots of students have gone through it, and if not now, at some point they will. The feeling and connection between teens is sometimes so strong they believe they can get through anything. But what if one is going to college? Or both?
According to a study performed by The Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships (yes, this place exists), 25 to 40 percent of all romantic relationships among college students are in some way long distance.
For some Penn Manor students it takes commitment, honesty, and a certain amount of communication.
In the beginning, the hard change for most couples is going from seeing each other everyday, to two to three times a month.
According to Healthy Relationship Center at the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center, how much time you spend together and apart is a common relationship concern. If you interpret your partner’s time apart from you as, ‘he or she doesn’t care for me as much as I care for him or her,’ you may be headed for trouble by jumping to conclusions. Check out with your partner what time alone means to him or her, and share your feelings about what you need from the relationship in terms of time together. Demanding what you want, regardless of your partner’s needs, usually ends up driving your partner away, so work on reaching a compromise.
Junior student Maddie Rohrer talks about how it will be very difficult for her and her boyfriend of two years, Alec Keck, when he leaves for Drexel University next fall.
“There’s things that can happen, obviously, but I feel that since we have been dating for so long that we will be able to work things out,” Rohrer said confidently.
“I plan to go up and visit when I can, but I don’t know how often,” she later said.
Taking time to communicate with one another can be hard if both students are in different colleges.
At Penn Manor, senior students Taylor Goldberg and David Schneider just happen to be going to the same college, but not on purpose.
“We have schedules on opposite days but going to the same school is convenient,” said Goldberg.
Talking and communicating won’t be hard for this couple since they won’t bee too far away, but when the question if they went to other schools came up, her response was quick and honest.
“I think it would be complicated, but I think we could work it out. Like if he was far away or I was far away, you just never know what the other is exactly doing,” said Goldberg.
Her senior boyfriend of two years, Schneider had a similar response about their distance if they went to different schools.
“Yeah, it would be harder for me to go to a different school because we wouldn’t see each other nearly as much. You wouldn’t know who’s there or what she’s doing.” said Schneider calmly.
There are all kinds of things that can happen when a love one is too far.
Very neat article. A very interesting way to look at how relationships develop and change when college becomes a concern.