Dating in college has always been an issue for many students. It’s time-consuming and tends to get very dull without events. For those who’ve found someone they care about in college, there are ways to keep your love life alive and away from the pressures in the educational system. Here is how to manage college dating and still have your head.
1. Understand Yourself First
Before you start dating anyone in college, you need to know yourself first. Knowing yourself provides you with all the details and ingredients you need to succeed with the other person.
College relationships will come with plenty of mistakes because of the lack of experience. The only thing that will see you through it all is, knowing who you are, and you’re going to need plenty of it when the other person you genuinely love shows up.
2. Find Time For Each Other
College can be very stressful and engaging. You have loads of topics to read, assignments to complete, and papers to write. You’re not sure if you’ll have time for yourself, not to talk of another person.
If you want your college relationship to endure, then you must find time for each other. Date nights, movies, meals, anything both of you love doing must be included in a schedule that you’re both going to find time for, no matter how little.
3. You Can’t Allow It To Consume You
Relationships have a way of taking over your entire being. If you are in a college environment, you can’t allow this to flourish. Once you realize your college dating is setting you back and causing you to drop points, sit down, and make a plan to deal with it.
4. Make Commitments
Everything is about balance. Even when you can’t allow your college dating to take over your life, you also can’t allow it to die and become a wasted effort. That’s why you need to make a commitment and stick to it.
It would help if you made commitments about meetings, sharing ideas, dating, and discussions about the future. These commitments will be seen by both parties as a sign of seriousness and will encourage both of you to look forward to a life of hopefulness.
5. Your Education Should Always Come First
Whatever you do, always make sure your education comes first. It’s good to make sacrifices when trying to manage college dating, but if it seriously affects your studies, avoid it.
If things get out of hand, arrange for a time out with your partner to sort out stuff but allow them to help you in any way.
Remember that any sacrifice you make in your relationship that affects your education will leave you in regret and may cause the end of the relationship eventually.
6. Get Ready For Gossips
College gossip about your relationship will seem like a simple thing in the first instance. As part of the strategy to manage college dating issues, I advise that you get ready for people who want to use gossip to destroy your relationship.
People will come to you about how they saw your partner with someone else and so on. You can’t listen to them.
Stay focused. Stick by those who support you, keep yourself busy with school work to get it out of your mind, and don’t forget to talk to your partner.
Once you refuse to succumb, the rumors will soon go away, and you’re ready to move on.
7. Be Careful With Financial Commitments
Many people are going to experience financial difficulty at one time or the other while they’re in college. If you’re dating someone, you’re most likely going to know about it, if your partner has a financial issue.
Since you’re still a student who is also dependent, be careful with giving money away. Only do what you know you can afford and leave the rest. Your partner will understand.
If you do something that puts your education at risk, and your partner can’t reciprocate when you need their support, it will affect your relationship.
Understand that there are other ways you can help your partner when they’re in crisis without you feeling that you let them down.
8. Don’t Assume You’ll Surely Get Married
College relationships should be fun and full of hope, exciting events, and memories. Work towards making it to the end of the tunnel. However, avoid having an unrealistic expectation that it’s going to end in marriage.
That’s why, from the beginning, know what you want from the relationship. Focus on building a strong relationship first and let everything take its course.
Some college dating does end up in marriage, but you should not make this a priority. Your primary intention is to be happy and have a great time dating.
See our article on What to expect In a Relationship
9. If It’s Not Working, Move On
No matter how well you manage college dating, you are always going to have issues. One thing that will save you from trouble is patience, and you will need lots of it.
Like every type of relationship, college dating is full of disappointments, rejections, empty promises, and loss. You will need a high level of emotional maturity to scale through successfully.
However, if you find out that things are not working as you expect, you need to quit and move on. Deal with heartbreaks quickly and get back to your life, because your education needs you. A college education is costly, and it is your life, so you need to take things seriously.
10 You Can’t Ask For Too Much
You need your partner to commit to your relationship, but you can’t ask for too much. Stick to what the two of you agree to be fair and honest.
However, if someone is not showing you enough interest, then you have to let them go. Contributions to the relationship have to be mutual and consistent at both ends.
Once someone starts making plenty of excuses and can’t meet up with the agreed appointments, then let them go. So, don’t ask for too much and, at the same time, don’t give more than necessary.
