Uni vs. Long Distance

Every year thousands of young souls flee the parent nest and join the Aston uni community. They come from all corners of the world, hopeful and eager to start four (or three, depending on the course) character-shaping years of their life. Unfortunately, every person has emotional baggage; whether it's unresolved father/mother issues, self-esteem problems, [blank for adding own personal issues when reading this post], or, and this is the worse, a long distance relationship.

You must have heard it a million times but let me say it once again - long distance does not work - and I shall not use the boring arguments that other "wise" men use, instead let me tell you what you will miss out on whilst sitting in front of skype and waiting for your beloved to answer:

• new friends (from new cultures, speaking new languages, having interesting stories, etc., etc., etc., you get my point)
• sports - we do have a club for essentially every sport that exists (and if we don't, creating one is a piece of cake, and a piece of cake that you will have plenty of help with eating)
• social gatherings - there are enough social clubs in Aston to fill up every night of your stay
• nights out - come on, every day I get countless flyers and FB invites, and if I don't, my friends do and let me know (again, you get the idea)
• academic work - do you know how many chapters for my Financial Accounting Class (that I failed) I could have read for the time gullible young me spent sitting in front of skype and chatting with my soon-to-be-ex girlfriend.
• part-time work - duh! Developing your CV, Aston uni Job shop assisting you with doing that; do these things ring a bell?
• volunteering - I bet that all the people I could have helped volunteering would have been more grateful for the time spent with them than my, well, same soon-to-be-ex girlfriend
• basic human needs - do eating and sleeping ring a bell? (especially sleeping)
• travelling - there are so many opportunities for travel and I am talking cheap student travel; the kind of travel you will be jealous of when you graduate because it is biggest bargain ever!
• and there is so much more [blank to add own dream since it is most likely possible to complete within the four years in Aston]

When I look back at my uni life I see a pool of amazing memories, time well spent with new friends, satisfaction from well earned marks, and loads of new experiences. I am grateful my long distance relationship ended only three months into my first uni year when after loosing so much of could-have-been-spent-better time talking to my dumped-me-before-christmas ex-girlfiend. Long distance does not work, try experiencing Aston uni life instead!