The main ingredient to a good, healthy relationship is trust. Without trust, two people can’t bond and have a relationship, simple as. At university, it’s hard enough juggling time to spend on the work you’ve been set as well as cooking, cleaning and whatever else needs doing that your mum unfortunately can’t do for you now. So here’s out guide to relationship’s at uni…

Life is bound to be hard at times for students, but some people can make a relationship work well for them in this situation. Felling isolated is one of the biggest problems that many students face in their first year at Uni, so by having a relationship and letting yourself share your worries and problems with someone who cares about you is something that many students want.

To judge whether your relationship is going well at Uni, the first questions you will need to ask yourself are things like can I balance my time between Uni work and the relationship? If the answer to this is yes, then your relationship is working well. However, if the answer to this is no, then you may need to think twice about the relationship because after all, you’re at Uni for one reason and that is to get a degree after 3 years of study, so make sure nobody gets in the way of this goal!

Can I trust my partner? This question is one of the most important questions to ask yourself because trust is very important in any relationship and at Uni, you will need to trust your partner even more so I imagine because clubbing would be on the agenda on a weekly basis and it is healthy to be able to trust him/ her in order to not get jealous or paranoid that your partner is cheating on you.

As much as Uni is about studying for a degree, there is also a very strong social element that’s influenced upon students to mix with others and start building friendships. This bonding can’t and shouldn’t be ignored, especially in the first year of studies. Therefore, if you feel that your partner is constantly persuading you to stay in and not socialise with your friends, but instead tempting you with a DVD and a box of chocolates, it is then that you need to re evaluate the relationship. You need to ask yourself what direction it’s heading in because you shouldn’t cancel arrangements and let your friends down for a guy/ girl all the time as it just wouldn’t be fair on them or you to do that, so stay strong and focused and make sure that the relationship is right for you before progressing.

Are you constantly going out and spending money that you haven’t got on romantic nights? If the answer to this is yes and it feels as if you are causing yourself to be in more debt because of a guy/ girl then is it really worth it? Constant cinema goings and evening candle lit meals can all add up and you might be shocked by the amount of times you hand your card over to pay for things like this on a monthly or even weekly basis, so watch what you spend! I can understand that doing these things is normal for couples to do but if you’re a student without a job then it really isn’t a wise thing to do and is definitely not worth the added debt that it will leave you with!

If you’ve found someone that you love and feel happy with then just let things go with the flow and not put too much pressure on each other. However, if you feel as if the relationship is dragging you down and you feel less able or motivated to do Uni work then you should talk things through with your partner to let them know how you feel and if things don’t change then it would be wise to end the relationship sooner rather than later.

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