When you look into the eyes of the one you love, you feel complete. Just being in that person’s presence may bring you joy and happiness, but what happens when you are unable to be close to the one person you crave?
Long-distance relationships seem to be happening more frequently with college students. It is not difficult to find someone at Cabrini who is dating someone who attends school elsewhere. Although these couples are not able to embrace their significant other on a regular basis, there are still some positives to be found within relationships stretched across some distance.
Cabrini sophomore exercise science and health promotion major Andrew Welsh is proof that a long-distance relationship can work if you truly want it to. He and his girlfriend have been together for almost three and a half years. She attends Penn State University but is currently 2,728 miles away studying in Quito, Ecuador. Welsh says, “The lack of drama associated with on campus relationships is a stupendous advantage for us.” He also stressed that the key to their success is their strong communication skills and being flexible in the event that any problems or conflicts arise.
Speaking to many participants of long-distance relationships, a word that repeatedly came up was trust. For Cabrini freshman political science major Kalle Blindenbacher, this factor was his biggest concern. After being in a relationship for three years, Blindenbacher and his now ex-girlfriend broke up shortly before she was moving from Pennsylvania to Oregon. Having been in the military, he watched many people have difficulty and stress related to the distance placed between them and their significant other. Blidenbacher said, “Things happen and that’s understandable. However I feel that distance will make any trust issues that much worse.”
Take into consideration that if your relationship is about to acquire some distance, there are plenty of couples out there making it work. Like Welsh, Rutgers senior sports management major Slater McCue is coping with being apart from his girlfriend during the school year. They have been together for two and a half years and have found many ways of coping with the distance.
When questioned about how the time apart affects him, McCue says, “Being apart from one another for long periods of time allows us to truly miss each other.” McCue’s roommate, Rutgers senior communication and labor studies major Michael Zavala, chimed in on the interview and said, “Being in a long-distance relationship is easier now than before, with the technology of FaceTime and other video chats.” Zavala, who was speaking from experience, has been dating his girlfriend who attends the University of Scranton for a year.
Designating specific time to speak on the phone or over video chat may sound serious and like a lot of work, but to have a successful relationship you must put in equal time and effort. Being able to count on your boyfriend or girlfriend to be online and ready to Skype when you had planned can be a very comforting thought. Making time for each other not only shows how much you care about them but proves that you are both equally invested in creating a strong and trustworthy relationship.
McCue’s best advice for other couples trying to make it work is Skype, Skype and Skype. With today’s options on your computer, phone or tablet, there is no excuse for not making time for each other and still maintaining a certain level of interaction even though you may physically be apart.
