Love & Dating | November 6th, 2024

Navigating long-distance relationships in college

By: Trinity Talton | Online Editor

Long-distance dating is a common phenomenon for college students, as many students move away from their hometowns for college. According to a study by the American Counseling Association, about 75 percent of college students have been in a long-distance relationship. 

Navigating long-distance relationships in college can have many challenges, as many students must balance their personal, social and academic lives with their romantic relationships. This can prove to be even more challenging when you are not in close proximity to your partner. 

Samiyah Lacy, a first-year computer science major, has been in a long-distance relationship for about seven months. She and her partner have experienced their fair share of challenges during her time at FAMU.

“One challenge was that I had to come to terms with the fact that we need to communicate, but not all the time,” Lacy said. “It’s important for us to talk to each other and spend time together but we also need to have time to focus on school.”

Dreah Yelverton, a first-year pre-nursing major, has been in a thousand-mile relationship for about ten months. She attends school in Tallahassee, but her boyfriend lives in Ohio. One of her biggest challenges in her long-distance relationship is meeting her love languages. 

“My love languages are physical touch and quality time,” Yelverton says. “Physical touch is impossible long distance, and quality time gets a bit difficult since we have very different schedules.”

Closing the Gap

A proper work-life balance is essential for maintaining a long-distance relationship while in college. You must put effort into juggling your academic and personal life and carve time out for your relationship. Lacy understands this. 

“We both handle our business, get our work done, and then call each other after,” she said. “We both want to succeed and grow, and we found this works best for us.”

Yelverton maintains a work-life balance in her relationship by spending time with her partner after she finishes her studies.

“We usually text throughout the day and make time to talk to each other every night after class,” she said. “We also do a lot of virtual dates on the weekends like movie nights and bible studies.”

Because of the distance, long-distance relationships can require much more trust and communication. You must put even more faith in your partner and believe they will stay faithful to you despite the distance between you. According to a study done by Survive LDR, about 72% of long-distance couples do trust-building activities like password sharing and communication about their social activity. 

As college social life can involve a lot of partying and social outings, it can be harder to stay trusting when you are not nearby. Despite this, Lacy and her partner have established good communication and trust in each other. 

“When it comes to things like partying, we have developed a high level of trust,” Lacy said. We don’t worry much about what the other days when we are outside or when we party.” 

It Takes Two

Although being long-distance has a lot of trials and tribulations, the experience can be rewarding and exciting. Being far away from your partner can help strengthen your bond with each other and establish a high level of trust in the relationship. 

According to a study done by Survive LDR, about 58% of long-distance relationships in 2023 are long-term and successful. The breakup rate for long-distance relationships is only 35%, less than in previous years. 

Yelverton doesn’t enjoy being long-distance but feels it has positively impacted her relationship and made her closer to her partner. 

“Being long-distance has definitely proved that our feelings are real,” she said. “Behind the petty disagreements and things like that, deep down, we just want to be around each other and are constantly counting down the days until we are together again.”