Talk Nerdy to Me
Absence Makes the Lust Grow Harder
Each year, MIT sends out convenient fliers to incoming freshmen with all the “important” dates listed. However, they leave off the most important date — the day you “break up with your high school relationship.” Maybe it’s because this date varies for each individual. For some freshmen, they covered this months ago. If you haven’t covered it yet, mark your calendar; the days are limited.
Precocious individual that I am, I broke up with my high school relationship months before I entered college. Even though we had been dating on-again-off-again for four years, I realized that unlimited night and weekend minutes along with frequent flier miles were not enough to survive the midnight fights and sketchy webcamming. Maybe it was because I had been in the relationship for so long, but the flaws I “loved” slowly turned obnoxious. By the end of our relationship, he no longer seemed “cultured”; instead, it just seemed like he had an Asian fetish.
During our break-up, I wasn’t even sad; I was more excited about my upcoming relationships. Naive as I was, I somehow thought MIT relationships would be better than high school relationships. Then I realized MIT guys usually have severe Asian fetishes due to the lack of decent-looking people on campus. (No flame wars, please, you know it’s true.) So far I’ve come to decide that MIT relationships are equally messed up. They’re propelled by a series of hook-ups, and then, the “what the hell are we doing?” speech. Also, my high school ex-boyfriend, although not by any means “normal,” is much more “normal” than some of the guys I’ve dated on campus. I’m tired of hearing flings explained in terms of cost-opportunities — I don’t care if you’re an investment banker, I’m not going to make an investment into a fling.
However, regardless of how messed up dating can be in general, it’s vital to leave your safe haven. People usually stay in long-distance relationships for the stability and security — except, all people need physical activity. Chances are your long-distance relationship is going to a school with better-looking people. They’re going to get tired of waiting for you to fly the long distances just for the booty call. Or maybe, you’ll make a befuddled blunder with someone on your floor after a night of too much 151. I highly doubt you’re entirely asexual. It’s hard not to give into lust.
It’s really not fair to stay in a secure relationship just for the sake of security. People change quickly in college, and it’s hard to grow when you’re tied down during the process. If you’re really meant to be, you’ll find yourselves later on in life. Breaking up now will spare you pain later — and, if you’re the victim of a break-up — it’ll all be OK. You never know what the future holds — so long as you don’t call your ex 50 times when they’re in a new relationship (*coughs* my high school ex) — there’s still hope for reconciliation years later.