This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Clemson chapter.
Long distance relationships. Yup, the dreaded topic among those leaving home or those
realizing they’re graduating soon. Well unlucky for me, I have been in a long distance
relationship with my current boyfriend for three years. We’re not your typical high school sweet
heart turned long distance with college. We’re actually anything but typical. He lives in Virginia
and currently goes to school in Virginia, I live in New Jersey and obviously go to school in
South Carolina.
Freshman year I attended a small university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. On move in day,
I met the guy of my dreams. Now I was never a believer of “love at first sight” or any of that
corny stuff so for me, this was a real eye opening experience. My roommate and I were sitting in
our room awkwardly getting to know each other like any freshman roommates do. We happened
to have our door open when two boys, we lived on a co-ed hall, walked by our room. I stupidly
screamed at them asking them if they lived on our hall. Little did I know that this would be the
moment that changed my life forever. There he was, tall, slightly tan from the summer, muscular
with dark hair and dark eyes. *insert drooling emoji*
As odd as it sounds and trust me, I felt even odder, I knew that I had found the person I
was destined to marry…the first day of move in freshman year. Naïve and crazy? Maybe, but I
did not care. I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it. I sheepishly gave him my number
and patiently waited for a text. One came not too long after that inviting me to go out with him
and his friends. This too was another night that would change my life but it a different way, I met
my absolute best friend that night.
As any freshman guy can attest, he’s not looking for a relationship and at this point, I’m
not sure I was either. We continued to hang out, A LOT, talked all the time about his ex and all
that fun stuff. Then November came and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Now the real fun starts,
by this point I had realized I was not enjoying my time at this university. I had great friends and
now a great boyfriend but something was missing so with the help of my parents I started
exploring my options…which in December brought me an acceptance from Clemson.
When I told my boyfriend, he was initially pissed. Likely and most obvious reaction. However,
spring semester came and he too was thinking about transferring. We got excited to think
that maybe we could transfer to the same school and still date. Reality clicked in when he chose
to attend another university in Virginia. We had “the talk,” the dreaded talk that no couple ever
wants to have to go through, but we didn’t have much of a choice.
To my surprise he had not even thought about us breaking up. This made me happy but
also scared to not know what the future held for us. Yet, here we are, three years later happier
and stronger than ever. This has not been easy but any means, nor has it always been happy. We
went through a lot of really rough patches but got each other through them. Now as we’re both
graduating, we can see the light at the end of this VERY LONG tunnel and we could not be
happier. Neither of us knows what the future hold for us but after this, we know we can get
through it together.
If I have any advice for couples who are struggling in a long distance relationship, it’s to
not give up hope. When it feels like it’s too hard, think back to a time when you were happy and
together. My room, phone and laptop are full of pictures of us as a daily reminder that my life is
better with him in it. Use Skype and Facetime and definitely make the time to talk. Video chatting is literally a life saver.
Even when I have the busiest days, I’ll call him during a dinner/lunch break just to say hi. That, honestly, goes
a long way. The other HUGE part of a long distance relationship is trust. This is arguably the
hardest thing. You guys probably don’t know each others friends or who he/she is hanging out
with. I know I didn’t and I was the most jealous, stressed out girlfriend ever for about a year.
Then I realized that he loves ME, not any of the girls he hangs out with at school. You have to
trust that your significant other is being truthful to you, even when the truth hurts. So,
HerCampus readers, if I can do it, so can you! Each day gets better knowing you’re closer and
closer to being with the one you love again.