Watch out, first-years. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but November has proven to be the month of breakups for high school sweethearts who have continued to date into college.
Don't get me wrong. Many high school couples survive long into college, despite attending different schools and long distances. And don't you go thinking that your 45-minute drive from here to JMU is the prime example of a long distance relationship and you're managing to make it work. It's still tough, I'm sure, but my friend here at U.Va., Emily, has been dating her boyfriend for two and a half years since high school and he goes to the University of South Florida! Not quite a drive you can do in one afternoon, just to show up and surprise them. So, it is definitely possible for couples to survive the jump from high school into college.
What I mean to say is that November is when the long-distance first-year couples, who really never had much of a shot to begin with, tend to break up. I think it's because Thanksgiving is when everyone from high school is back home for the holidays. (A lot of times, fall breaks might not sync up in-between schools, but every school has the same general Thanksgiving break.) Then, amidst the cornucopias and cranberry sauce, relationships seem to end.
Nelson Mandela has a famous quote that goes, "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." I think that helps explain why couples seem to break up around this time. They go back home and their houses, families and pets are all still the same, but something about going off to college and living on your own changes people, even the slightest bit. And oftentimes relationships are no longer the same afterward.
Also, individuals who already have breakups on their minds may be waiting to see their partner in person before cutting the relationship ties. We all know that no good can come about from a breakup over e-mail, text message, phone call or
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