Destiny Diamond | Staff Writer

Going to college can be a very exciting time for freshmen students. Upon arriving at their new school, they will meet new people, make new memories and learn new ways of life, which will force them to also learn how to manage, maintain, and mature.
On the brink of all these new experiences, many freshmen will have to make a major decision, regarding whether or not to embrace all these new experiences single, or in a relationship. For those who are in a relationship, this topic of conversation can’t be avoided.

Amir Lowery, a freshman majoring in management begin his college career with a clean slate, knowing that he “would most likely fall into the situation of flirting,” he therefore decided to remain single. For some couples however, breaking-up is just not an option.

One source, who chose to remain anonymous said, “I am a freshman and my boyfriend and I decided to stay together even though he is a year older than me and went to ECU. We worked it through even though we were not close. Now that I am at State, we will be further away, but after talking about it we thought, why not try as long as we keep our communication open?”

Truthfully, there is no right or wrong way to go into college it just depends on your relationship. Some people want to grow and flourish on their own, while others may enjoy having someone there who is familiar to go through these new experiences with.

A lot of things must be taken into consideration before actually deciding to stay together or choosing to be apart. How long has the couple been together? Will distance be an issue? These are all things to consider.

Marie Foh, a sophomore majoring in Fashion Textiles offered this advice, “Try to stick it [the relationship] through, but if it’s not working, go your separate ways.”
Similarly to the sentiments expressed by Foh, Chisom Anen a junior majoring in Human Biology had this to say, “Keep the relationship you’re in if you know that you’re colleges are going to be close together to avoid complication.”
Ultimately, since there is no right or wrong way to go about being in a relationship, just remember that college is a chance to be whoever you want to be, learn whatever you want to learn, and in the end go where ever you want to go. Sometimes relationship can hurt the process, while in others it can help—again it all depends on the couple.

Staying in a relationship because you are comfortable isn’t always the best move and on the same token leaving the relationship because of something that may look better on the surface isn’t always the best option either. So no matter what couples choose to do, focus on the love between the two and if it is worth it and both people are strong enough to continue stay together, if not, move on.
Most importantly, remember, a relationship is work and it takes two. If there aren’t two people who are committed to making the relationship work and have open communication, it probably won’t.