Should you have a long distance relationship at Strathclyde?

‘It normally turns weird’

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For many, coming to uni is a time for self-discovery through dating and one night stands – which can be tricky with bae half way across the country. We asked people at Strathclyde whether they think it’s worth going the distance. 

Veronika Bodurova, third year, Biomedical Science

“I would rather not have one honestly. I don’t think it would work to be separate in different countries or even different cities. It makes it much harder to be together.

“Maybe it would be worth a try, but I would really need to trust that person. It’s all about trusting somebody.  Let’s think about it, what does a long distance relationship make you to do? You’re always either on your phone or Skype, trying to reach the person you love. If it’s temporary, that’s totally fine, but if it’s permanent that it’s gonna last for years – that’s definitively not working.”

Nils Bloomberg, second year, Journalism and Creative Writing

“Personally I don’t think I would. The inability to physically be there would be hard, and it would feel impersonal talking only through computers or phones. I think there would definitely be trust issues as well, which I don’t think would be healthy.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys think that they’ll be the ones that make it work, but I’ve never seen a long distance thing work out longer than a year, and it normally turns weird. I’ve had people devoting hours of their day to Skype only to find out that she had found someone else in their hometown, or vic ne versa.

“My advice is to end things when distance become too much of a problem, and never feel like theirs some obligation to stay together even though neither party really seems to enjoy it. A lot of long distance relationships I’ve seen seem to be based off of a feeling of guilt people have with breaking up, or seeming superficial. If it was really meant to be it will be, but while you’re young it’s a waste of time to be hung up on things like that.”

Eleonora Giuffrida, second year, Politics

“I would never be in a long distance relationship, because I think that love is made of little things that one person does to another and those things are impossible to express without touching or just being in silence, laying next to each other.

“Another thing I hate about distance is that it overrules over love and makes you have doubts and getting paranoid. Usually when people are distant tend to fight more and it doesn’t really matter how much they love each other, it just makes everything too hard and unstable. I think that the only way it can work is when you know that you’ll be distant just for not too long and you can hold on to the day you’ll meet again, but other than that, you won’t make it even if you love each other a lot.

“I’ve also already experienced a long distance relationship and it didn’t work out and that’s why I would never choose to have another one. But never say never.”

Sabina Nonnis, second year, Psychology

“I would stay in a long distance relationship. I think that nowadays is a lot easier to keep a long distance relationship as there are many different and easy ways to keep in touch and see each other, Skype, Facebook and whatsapp.

“On the romantic side, I believe that true love lasts forever, no matter how difficult the circumstances are.”

Dasa Kocisova, second year, Journalism and Creative Writing

“It depends on a guy if I really like him. I always say that you have to try.

“I am of the opinion that Skyping, messaging, calling are the good forms of keeping in touch with your love. But obviously you need to meet up every once in a while.”

Anna Pomichowska, second year, English

“I’ve been with my boyfriend for a year and two months and all this time we have been in a long distance relationship. He lives in Germany and I live here, in Glasgow. It’s hard, yes, but I think it’s worth it. It requires us to sacrifice a lot of our time for sitting in front of our computers and just talking. So couples whose relationship is not strong enough to be based on ‘just talking’ for quite a long time wouldn’t survive that.

“Obviously from time to time we need to see each other because that the relationship’s about, however, it also requires a lot of money. We need money to travel to see each other. Planes are incredibly expensive. Anyway, I reckon that long term relationships work.”

Maurizzio Verducci, second year, French

“I don’t think I’d be a suitable person to be in a long distance relationship. When I left home to study in Scotland, I decided to put an end to the love story I had had.

“Now I’ve somehow managed to get into another one and don’t know how to deal with it. I’ve just figured out that it’s up to the person you are with and the feelings you have. Messages, phone calls, Skype, video chatting: these are essential for a long distance relationship because you need to make the other person feel your love. At least through the screen, and not many people are able to do it. I’m the one of them”

Hannah Boyle, second year, Journalism and Creative Writing

“I believe if a connection exists with two people over different time zones, continents, anything – as challenging as it may prove – it is worth pursuing.  As long as there is a mutual decision to work with each other to deal with the hardships it may bring, and an agreement to come together eventually when possible, I don’t see why you shouldn’t at least try.”

Sebastiano Ferrara, second year

“I have had a girlfriend from Slovakia already for 3 years. She studies there. Obviously it’s not easy. You have to think about future. If you really love her you try everything to keep contact with the other person. We are planning  to stay together in the future.

“As usual we contact via Skype, phone calls, messages. We see each other during the summer for 3 months, but apart from that it’s just the odd few days over Christmas. Yeah, we’ve had a few healthy arguments, but doesn’t every couple?”