A BROAD LOVE:

Although relationships in college can be complicated, they can also be perfect places to nurture loving, healthy romances. In high school, we got to see our boyfriends in the halls, and occasionally after school and on the weekends, but our time with them was mostly subject to parent-man­dated curfews and limitations. For a lot of us, being in college means independence, and that transfers to independence in our romantic endeavors.

Welcome to college: land of the free and home of the easy relationship. If you want to see the person you are dating, it's as simple as a text and a five-minute walk to the guy's dorm. If you have a bad night, you can go to your boyfriend's place and get away from whatever drama is awaiting you in your own room.

Fast forward to the next semester where a five-minute walk turns into an entire ocean separating the two of you and a night of cuddling becomes countless nights of stressing while trying to coordinate a time that you will both be awake just so you can Skype for an hour.

Study abroad applications were due last Monday and the past few weeks have brought a buzz of wonder to how all the great couples on campus are going to make it work. A mixture of humidity and nerves has been circulating around RWU, as people decide whether they are going to stick together or ride solo when they go over seas.

The bad news: when you are thousands of miles away from someone that you are involved with, there can be a lot of miscommunication. The good news: we are not even half way through October, so there is still time to read this advice and prevent love quarrels from entering your trip. First, you need to identify what type of love dilemma you are in:

1. Beginner's Un-luck – It seems like you have been look­ing for that special someone since you got to RWU, and you have finally found him, when – wamp-wah – you find out that he is studying abroad. In self-defense, you're hesitant to get too close to him, but if you don't put yourself out there now, you could loose your chance to be with him later.

2. Long Hall to Long Halt – If you have been in a serious relationship for over a year, your first instinct may be to keep things the way they have been because you are comfort­able, but once things go inter­national, they will not be the same. Instead of strolling over to surprise your guy with a $4 coffee midday, you will have to finagle a $1,000 plane ride out of your bank account just to see him for one week. If you as­sume that you are going to stay together and then find that you don't want to be in a relation­ship while you are abroad, it could lead to a messy breakup with no chance of coming back to an "us," when you come back to the U.S.

3. Long Distance to Longer Distance – If you are dating someone that lives in a differ­ent state or goes to a different school, you may think that leaving the country won't be that different, but finding time while you are a state away and finding time while you are in different time zones are entirely different battles.

I have come to the belief that when taking your relationship to extra-continental heights, it is best to keep things open, honest and not-so-committed. This solution works for any of the three relationship types above because going abroad is supposed to be about finding yourself by diving head first into new territory. It should not be muddled with regret and relationship drama. So whether you want to experi­ence hooking up with a Euro­pean hottie, or you just don't want to feel pressured to talk to your beau when you are busy with homework, here is what you need to do

If you are the one going abroad, it is your responsibil­ity to be the initiator of this difficult conversation. The best way to go about bringing up this arrangement is to talk about what you want with your partner openly, at least a month in advance. Chances are if you are not talking about it, he is definitely wondering about it, so be respectful of his feelings and talk to them about what you want.

Avoid using labels like going "on a break" or "open relation­ship," since those terms imply that you are semi-attached, which can lead to you second-guessing the morality of your decisions and feeling guilty for neglecting your half-boyfriendish person. Instead, talk at length about situations that might occur and what you honestly want. Do you want to talk while you are there? What about hooking up with other people? I'm not saying it's going to be easy initially, but the face-to-face communication will make things easier once you are apart.

If you are the one staying at school, you should respect what the person going abroad wants, but also expect him to be clear about what he want before he leaves. Know that once he leaves, it will sting and you will miss him, but that doesn't mean that he isn't thinking about you too. Don't lie in bed pining over him, blasting Celine Dion's, "All By Myself" through your iPod headphones while he is off ex­ploring the world; explore your world. Take the four months that he is away to create your own journey to find yourself and what makes you happy without even leaving campus.

I have always believed that destinies are intertwined. Two people cannot always be steadi­ly attached or they won't know how to appreciate each other. As small tests come along, ap­proach them in a realistic man­ner. There is a big world out there, and if you have already found someone you care about, then don't be so quick to think that the world can come in between you.