Berry’s small and close-knit community can make dating on campus easier for students, but it can also be an obstacle when relationships end.
Shannon Bostic, COM 250 Reporter
Berry’s small and close-knit community can make dating on campus easier for students, but it can also be an obstacle when relationships end.
Breakups are hard enough as it is, but frequently seeing an ex can make moving on even harder. Some students, like freshman Paige Kozar, said that Berry’s small campus and community makes running into an ex pretty much unavoidable. Most of the time students meet their significant others through classes and other extra curricular activities on campus, meaning that future interactions after a breakup are inevitable.
But what is the healthiest way for students to go about interacting with an ex? According to “The Dating Doctor”, David Coleman, avoiding an ex at all costs is not the way to go.
“I say take it head on and act your age,” Coleman said in a Q&A interview with Her Campus. “Acknowledge each other . . . You will not find the right person until you become the right person. Character is not built during times of adversity, it is revealed.”
Senior Bryanna Perry also agreed that purposely avoiding an ex is not the right way to go.
“When you focus all your energy on avoiding one person, it just makes it harder to get over them because you’re thinking about them way more than you realize,” Perry said.
As difficult as moving past a relationship can be, students don’t have to go through it alone. Kozar, Perry and senior Matt Soares all said that having a supportive friend group and keeping busy are the best ways to cope with a breakup. It’s important to be reminded that life goes on.
“Everybody goes through breakups,” Soares said. “You have to remember that your life’s not over.
Senior and Peer Educator Rebecca Treadaway said that the period after a breakup is a really important time to focus on the self and reflect on who you are and what you want.
“It’s ok to mourn the loss, but remember to take care of yourself,” Treadaway said.
If a student is really struggling with a breakup and wants to seek out extra help, there are several resources available on campus.
“Students can definitely come to [the Peer Educators Office] for breakup advice,” Treadaway said. “Just last month we did a relationship series on healthy ways to cope with a breakup. Students can also go to the Counseling Center, which offers free services.”