University Star

If a proper balance is found, love can be a viable part of student college life without distracting from academics and career goals.

The brutal truth is that the pressures of college can make even the most amorous relationship finite, even though the saccharine adage that “Love lasts forever” is often repeated. Coursework and studies can both fall victims to the demands a relationship creates in the life of a student. Texas State students can find ways to properly manage academics with their outside relationships to make these aspects flourish equally.

Bobcats should remember a college relationship might only be a temporary fixture in their lives, and some often flame out before the heat of summer break even begins. Students should put more effort into earning degrees because it will help them get to the next chapter of their lives.

The American College Health Association and National College Health Assessment published an executive summary at Texas State three years ago. Approximately 11.8 percent of Texas State students reported negative academic impacts from “relationship difficulties” within the last 12 months of the survey period, according to the summary. No romance should ever get so intense it takes priority over the permanency of a college degree. Thusly, a student must douse the fire of a relationship if it threatens to consume the entirety of his or her studies.

Almost 12 percent of total students surveyed reported experiencing an emotionally abusive intimate relationship, according to the same executive summary. In addition, 33 percent of surveyed students reported experiencing “traumatic or very difficult to handle” intimate relationships. Academics are hard enough without having to add love problems into the equation.

A career-driven Bobcat should seek a partner supportive of their professional pursuits. A good partner should not hold back a significant other from job opportunities that may arise after graduation, regardless of how straining the circumstances. The highly competitive national job market presently facing new college graduates makes this advice even more important. Employment in a specific career field may only be available in a market several hundred miles away from Central Texas. Couples should realize this and prepare accordingly to either move together to a new and strange place or go their separate ways. A long-distance relationship may also be an option.

It may be a great benefit for many students to enter into a long distance relationship while enrolled at Texas State. A long-distance relationship between college students can be mutually advantageous, especially considering the amount of universities encompassing the Austin and San Antonio areas. A Bobcat and a Longhorn can form a lasting bond even with 30-something miles between them, Hill Country style. Some students are likely to better concentrate on their studies if their romance is kept to a weekend-only basis.

Ultimately, students must remember they cannot love someone else if they do not love themselves first. Hence, Bobcats must put themselves and their academic studies ahead of any and all college sweethearts.