Going off to college means meeting many new people from different places. Some people meet friends, colleagues and even significant others while away at school. This can be fun during the semester, but during breaks, it can lead to long distances, with many friends and significant others being hours apart.
This can be especially difficult in romantic relationships. It’s not easy to be away from people you love.
Miami University has students from all 50 states and 79 different countries, so students meet people from all over the world. In some cases, this can lead to them falling in love with someone who spends part of the year on the other side of the country.
Ashlynn Funck, a senior accounting major, met her boyfriend, Isaiah Jacobs, a senior marketing major, two years ago at Miami. They spend time together while in Oxford, but their relationship can get difficult during breaks due to one big obstacle: Funck lives in California, and Jacobs lives in Ohio.
While apart, the two focus on finding ways to communicate despite being in two different time zones. They talk through Snapchat daily and try to make time to call at least once a week.
However, despite how difficult long-distance relationships are, Funck said she tries to focus on the positive. While a lot of people can get caught up in their relationships and let their friendships take a back seat, being long distance has allowed Funck and Jacobs to find a good balance between the two.
“It’s given us an opportunity to hang out with friends and still see our friends and not just be thinking about each other,” Funck said. “When we are together, we prioritize friendships and our relationship.”
The two spend almost the entirety of their breaks apart, as they both have internships and a plethora of other commitments. For Funck, the hardest part of the distance is not being able to see each other face-to-face.
“It’s hard to not be with each other,” Funck said. “I think I would like to hear his voice more often.”
As difficult as being away from Jacobs is, Funck finds comfort in knowing that there is an end to this distance. While she wishes the relationship wasn’t long distance, she said it has made them trust each other more.
Jacobs agreed that the distance has helped them with trust and communication; however, it wasn’t always easy. There were times they would fight over “dumb things,” realizing it was only because they missed each other.
“Sometimes it feels like . . . we’re not really a part of each other’s lives,” Jacobs said. “We just hear about each other’s lives, which sucks.”
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