College and love life possible?

College is an exciting time in life. It is a time when people make important decisions that will affect the direction the rest of their lives will take. Not only are these choices career-related, but many students also spend their college years in relationships.
Students at Weber State University are involved in all stages of relationships. There are the students right out of high school, commuting to campus and not dating anyone. At the other end of the spectrum, there are newly married couples finishing school together. Between the beginning and the end are those students either dating someone or between relationships.
Public relations freshman Parker Alexander believes being involved in a relationship can both help and hurt students in their studies.
“I think there’s both positives and negatives,” Alexander said. “A lot of people, especially at Weber State, just go to school, go to work and go home.”
Alexander is not currently in a relationship, but said there were enjoyable moments in his   previous one.
“I was dating a girl last semester, and I had someone to hang out with,” he said. “I got to know some of her friends, so I got to know more people, so that was cool.”
He added that it did take a toll on his studies.
“I didn’t have enough time for schoolwork and my grades suffered because of it.”
Despite this, Alexander said he enjoyed the experience.
“I don’t regret it,” he said. “It was fun.”
Fellow public relations student Bliss Stinson’s situation is a bit different. She is married and said she feels it helps her with her studies.
“My husband and I are both going to school,” Stinson said. “We both have the same responsibilities. We both need to do homework all night long.”
Stinson said she feels both her and her husband can concentrate on their studies and still spend time with each other.
“Most of the time we just spend our nights in the lab together,” she said.
Stinson said dating is different, because of the extra distraction that comes with it.
“But when you’re married, you guys just get to go home and go to bed,” she said. “You don’t need to stay up late because you’re with them all the time.”
She said marriage has helped her greatly in her college career.
“I got the highest grade point average I’ve ever had being married,” she said. “I got a 4.0 last semester. I’ll be graduated soon, so I’ll see him more often.”
Kyle Rollins is a German and technical writing double major and works as a tutor in the Writing Center. He agrees that relationships can place an unnecessary burden on students.
“It definitely adds a new level of stress to things,” he said. “You have a lot more to worry about. If you have to do homework and your boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever is like, ‘Hey, we should hang out tonight. We should do something fun,’ you’re like, ‘Hey, I have homework to do.’ They might get a little upset about that.”
Rollins said students should focus on their classes first.
“Homework and school are definitely going to affect the rest of your life,” he said. “Being in a relationship, you may get married — it could happen, but you don’t know that.”
Rollins also said that if students are in a relationship and have feelings for each other, they need to be mindful that schoolwork is important and needs to be done.
“That’s not always the case, though,” he added.
Involvement in a relationship can be rewarding for students, if it is balanced properly with schoolwork.