LONG DISTANCES can break or make relationships here at Granger High School.
Hector Enriquez (12) and Shareth Perez (12) have been together for four years and have experienced their share of ups and downs here at Granger High School. Enriquez believes long-distance relationships can be challenging, but with mutual effort, they can succeed.
For the past four years, Enriquez and Perez have navigated rough patches, but overall, their relationship has been strong.
They are excited for what lies ahead after graduation, as they plan to attend the same college and work during the summer to save up for their future. This effort will continue during college as they prepare for adulthood.
Their lasting relationship, according to Enriquez, is due to their approach to conflict. “If there’s a winner, you both lose,” Enriquez said. He emphasized the importance of working together during arguments rather than against each other, which has kept their relationship strong.
After four years together, they look forward to having more freedom as adults, and with graduation, they expect to have more time together.
Currently, their time together is limited. They only see each other during first lunch and in their 4B AVID class. Cell phone communication during the school day is restricted by Yondr pouches, so they rely on seeing each other in the halls or at lunch to talk. Outside of school, they mostly text, using Snapchat and messaging apps.
Annika Jones (12) and her boyfriend have been together for almost four months. They met over summer this year and spent every day together. They went to events and parties and fell in love. As the school year approached, they were told they would have to do long-distance once summer break ended. Once school began, it caused more arguing, disagreements, and with the phone policy it made it a little hard to adjust. She and her boyfriend didn’t let that get between them.
They created Google docs to communicate throughout the day. As her boyfriend kept getting grounded, they were even more separated — causing a more difficult situation as they were unable to text or FaceTime.
They have been future planning since they met. They are planning on dating long distance after high school because their future paths don’t align, but distance shouldn’t be a problem, and they hope to make it work.
They plan trips with each other on FaceTime calls to make the distance between them feel just a bit shorter. Jones thinks that long-distance relationships pose a significant challenge, but they can strengthen their love and reveal whether the relationship is based on genuine feelings.
Based on her experiences while in a long-distance relationship, Jones has some advice. She says that being in a relationship should strengthen the individual and make them grow, and not make either party different. She also thinks that communication and honesty are the most important things.
Communication helps both people in the relationship reduce little arguments that can grow into something bigger. While Jones acknowledges that honesty can be difficult depending on the situation, she believes it is essential for building trust between both individuals in the relationship.
If communication and honesty is a struggle in the relationship, it’s recommended to never take breaks for long periods of time, but taking 5-10 minutes away from the other person, to just sit and think, can help both parties to admit what is wrong and calm down enough to discuss the situation effectively.
Another thing Jones recommends is to never let the fire fade away.
Typically, most relationships fall apart because the couple starts to get too comfortable and stops putting in as much effort. Going on dates frequently, and prioritizing quality time helps.
