According to The Journal of Adolescent Research, 25-30% of high school romantic relationships last a few years post-graduation, but only 2% result in marriage. As graduation approaches, many seniors are not only preparing for dorm life, but also for possible distance, emotional strain and changes with their significant other.
With many Del Mar seniors planning to attend college, minutes or even hours away in new cities and states, the question of whether a relationship can endure the transition from high school to college begins to arise. However, couples have ways to maintain their relationship despite the distance and workload.
“Isaiah and I plan our relationship by prioritizing open and consistent communication, even when things get busy or stressful.” Lilia Costa, a Del Mar senior, responds to how she plans to maintain her relationship with Isaiah Molina as they both plan to attend different colleges.
Costa will be attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and Molina will be attending De Anza College in Cupertino. The colleges are about 3 hours away from each other. Despite college and career choices, Costa says that such choices have not affected their relationship negatively at all, but instead they’re willing to make it work no matter what.
“We’ve talked about our goals and what the future might look like, and we’re both committed to making it work no matter what. At the end of the day, we love each other and believe that our relationship is strong enough to handle whatever comes our way,” Costa said.
Although maintaining a relationship during college may seem difficult, it is not impossible. Many Del Mar alumni have still maintained their relationships even with the factor of conflicting distance, workload, and availability.
“Making sure you’re there for each other. There will be often times where Zoe will be more busy than me, or I will be more busy, but you know, understanding that you love and care for each other kind of goes a long way” Razbin Karkidoli, a Del Mar alumni, comments on how he maintains his relationship with Zoe Griffin another alumni.
Karkidoli attends UC Davis, whilst Griffin goes to UC Santa Cruz, which is four hours away from each other. “…We don’t get to see each other quite often, and we consider ourselves a long-distance relationship,” Karkidoli said.
“…Since we’re both in different majors in different departments, we have to plan out a date or sort of time period where we can see each other without the stress of school, or clubs or life,” he adds.
“I would probably say the biggest challenge would be time. As a full-time student, you’re basically doing a job, which is like 40 hours full-time,” Karkidoli commented. He further explains that in college, there can be finals, projects, friends, and mental health that may put a hold on meetings with the two.
Besides busyness and distance, Karkidoli and Griffin have maintained their relationship despite the limited availability they have to each other.
“The best way we’ve started since the first quarter we got to school is sharing a Google Calendar… knowing when our classes are is pretty easy to plan where things…” Karkidoli said.
A piece of advice Karkidoli gave to high school students who may struggle with how they’re going to maintain their relationship in college was communication.
“Communication is key. It sounds very cliché, but even before you go into college, make sure that is what you want and that is what your significant other wants. And if you don’t make that communication that you want to continue being together during college, it might lead to you know, a break off or break up. ”
Although graduation for the class of 2025 approaches, many students have plans and strategies on how to maintain a relationship despite the distance, work, and emotional strain college or career may create.
