Tips for handling the messy stuff in college relationships
July 11, 2012
There may be no greater understatement than that romantic relationships in college are tough. Suddenly you're an adult with your own time and agenda, yet your hormones are still running full speed and the bipolar highs and lows of high school drama haven't quite drained out of everyone's systems. So, stuck between maturity and your teens, how do you have a meaningful relationship?
It's not always easy, but relationships are an important part of growing up and getting older. So when they get bad, don't revert back to the histrionics of high school. Look your situation in the face and use it as a mark of maturity. If you're having a tough time with the messy romantics at university, consider some of these scenarios and tips for college students.
1. You're stuck at a small school. Small campuses are essentially like office settings - everyone will know your business, so you usually want to keep that business clean. If you in the middle of a breakup or something worse, sometimes the best medicine is to get off campus for a time until the storm blows over. A small campus is much closer to high school with only a modicum more maturity, which means there's always new gossip to attend to.
2. You and your significant other must spend summer apart. This is tough, but keep in mind that you're not exactly Romeo and Juliet. With the miracle of face chatting through Skype or your iPhone, no one's ever that far away.
3. Managing finances. Relationships can get expensive. For college students, date nights add up very quickly. And if a geographically divided couple do decide to arrange a summertime visit, it can bite a healthy chunk out of any summer job's paycheck. Always remember that you're in college, and finances will be tight, especially if you're footing your own tuition bill. Feeling a little overdrawn? That's what scholarship opportunities are for.
4. Finding that special someone to begin with. Sometimes the problem is simply finding the right guy or gal to begin with. At this age, it seems as if boys take forever to mature - and young college women can be intimidating and unapproachable. While there's no quick cure, find someone you like, then take a risk and strike up some conversation. With any luck, it's the messiest your relationship will ever be.
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