Well, it’s the beginning of September and another (albeit, colder) summer is done and gone. For many of you, a lingering depression will have already set in by the time classes begin. For others, university represents new opportunities to make friends, get away from your parents, and check out all the lithe new young things flooding the first-year seminars. For godsakes, some of them don’t look old enough to be in Grade 12.
Of course, with summer comes summer flings, but all good things must come to an end. Sure, you might genuinely care for your partner and even promise yourself that the beginning of school won’t affect your abiding passion for each other, but take caution. Summer romance is predicated on the existence of a few things that grease the wheels of any relationship: warm weather, travel, and lots of free time. Copious sunshine and constant beach-going make serotonin-production easy, and you’ve got enough leisure to sit around and talk about each other’s “feelings” until the cows come home. Both of these factors allow you to see any relationship through rose-coloured glasses.
When school starts, however, all that changes. You might both be on different campuses, or one of you might not be in classes at all. Not only do the circumstances of when and how you get to see each other change, but frosh-week partying can put you in situations that lower your inhibitions. This is doubled if you live on residence, where easy access makes sleeping over convenient. Even if you don’t end up “hooking up” in your first month of school, you might begin to secretly resent the fact that you can’t have a “good time” like everyone else. Suspicion and jealousy on your partners’ part, regardless of any actual cheating, is also often enough to sour any relationship.
But don’t sweat it. If your attitude is positive, and you both work to keep your relationship both interesting and honest, there’s no real reason why you won’t be together when the holidays roll around. If it doesn’t work out, don’t mourn for too long. Relax, don’t blame yourself-chalk it up to the fading sunlight and the hardening ground.
