We found love in a hopeless place…

To long distance or not to long distance? That is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the endless train fares and Skype calls or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end it?

There comes a time in every young relationship where both parties are put under pressure to make a tough decision before their time. Distance is destined to come between the two of you, and you have to decide if long-term separation is worth it.

Ask yourself, are you forcing something that was never meant to be? You are far too young to already be tied down to a relationship that you have to work hard at. Your youth should be effortless; you have no responsibility, it’ll be years before you have to decide to settle down. Don’t go ruining your adolescence over a romance that you’ll probably not even remember when you’re forty.

Despite this, splitting up is difficult – there’s no easy way about it, especially after having spent a summer of love enveloped in each other’s arms. A break up seems as though someone is tearing their life away from yours; it hurts, yes, but in time you can become a whole person again (cliché alert). But, on the plus side, it’ll give you the space and time to find yourself as a person (the clichés keep on coming), independent of your ‘other half’.

Sometimes ending it really is the best decision. Do you really want a committed relationship to linger around like a bad smell when all you want to do is bed the nearest literature student? Long distance relationships often don’t feel like relationships at all; no cuddles, no sex, no romantic dinners; sometimes no more than a brief phone call when they find the time.

Another upside is in the wider space you’ll have to form closer relationships to the new people you meet over Freshers’. There’s something unique about university friends; after a matter of days they’ll be your new best friends. You discover the people who really care when, despite only knowing you for a short amount of time, will gently extricate your naked self from an empty bathtub after crying yourself into a catatonic state from a rough night at Pop (inevitable late-night drunken phone calls to your ex: bad idea).

Despite this, the newbie to the world of university single life is placed under a sizable amount of pressure to pull at Freshers’. Needless to say, this too is a bad idea. Rebounding with someone you could bump into buying cereal at Costcutter? You’ll have plenty of awkward moments without having to subject yourself to this unnecessary ordeal.

Single life at university has obvious down-sides. Having to scour the lecture theatre for potential conquests; that awkwardness with and around your friends of the opposite sex; and perhaps worst of all, you’re not allowed to wear something comfy when you go out. Welcome to Warwick.