All is Fair in Love and Graduation
Image Courtesy: The Berkeley Beacon
As another Valentine’s Day comes and goes, many of us are busy celebrating with our significant others without any stress or concern. However, as the shortest month of the year flies by, some might be looking towards the next milestone—graduating college. Relationships in college can be so blissful and exciting. It’s easy to see a long-term future with your partner when they’re 2 minutes down the road and spend most nights doing homework together and cooking dinner, but with May looming over the near future, many couples will have to start making post-grad plans. We forget that these relationships can be fleeting.
Between grad school applications and job hunting, seniors have their work cut out for them as they transition into the next stage of life. As exciting and hopeful as this is, it can be hard to choose a life path when you have a routine so ingrained in your daily routine. For many upcoming grads, these rituals are heavily influenced by a significant other immersed in the individual’s life. A relationship that currently flows so easily can also be as easily disrupted based on where each of you moves after college. After living in a college town for years, you feel this sense of comfort being surrounded by those on a similar journey to you, and moving is hard enough without having to transition into a long-distance relationship, adding stress onto an already developed dynamic. For this reason, many couples will decide to leave their relationship in college and leave each other to move on to bigger and better things.
Image Courtesy: CineSerie
While this is definitely not a simple decision to make, long-distance has its own set of challenges that can impact the strength and routine of a college relationship. Being away from your significant other is difficult enough, but being away from one another after spending every day together is a much bigger adjustment. Many recent grads are unsure where they'll end up down the road, so continuing a relationship where both people aren’t sure where they will settle down can be frustrating on both ends. A long-distance relationship can function when both parties have an understanding of each other long-term goals—something that most first-year adults don’t have the luxury of knowing just yet. This uncertainty is why it can be hard to continue a relationship without knowing when you will be able to be in the same city again.
Image Courtesy: NPR
Aside from distance alone, it’s also a difficult adjustment when each person begins their career. We may think we’re busy in college, and some of us are. However, most class schedules don’t go from 9 to 5 every day of the week, affording a couple more flexibility to see each other throughout the day. Adjusting to a full-time work schedule leaves less room for your partner than you might have had in college. This is without even considering the time needed to take care of your own well-being and separate friendships to maintain. With starting a new career and finding time for FaceTime calls and endless texts, it becomes easy to lose that spark that kept the relationship alive in college.
Despite these possible challenges, couples can adapt to these challenges together to flourish in a post-grad world. Many couples can adjust with their partner rather than cause them to pull away. Communicating with your partner to incorporate some of the routines they were so comfortable with in college, whether on the phone or at different times, can allow couples to grow together instead of separately. So, don’t worry about the future just yet, and just enjoy having your partner around the corner to study and cook breakfast with.
Strike Out,
Writer: Isabella Bowman
Editor: Emily Montarroyos
Graphic Designer: Cole Martucci
Tallahassee