Don’t Just Say “Goodbye” for the Summer!
Summer break is right around the corner! Summer can provide a welcomed respite from the rigors of Trinity life and offer a time to renew relationships with family and high school friends. It can also put a strain on your Trinity relationships, however. Whether platonic or romantic, your Trinity relationships deserve some nurturing over the summer so that they maintain connectedness and momentum.
Here are some tips to further these important relationships during the summer months:
1. Talk with your friends and/or romantic partner about how they would prefer to stay in touch over the summer. While planned visits and phone/Skype calls are the most personal, they may expensive and/or impractical, especially for international students. Some people may prefer emails, texts, or tweets, while others may prefer catching up on Facebook. Your level of outreach may vary in frequency and duration depending on the type of relationship you are maintaining and with whom. For example, you may maintain some casual relationships with tweets while others may warrant more frequent or longer contacts.
2. Make connectedness with your Trinity friends and/or romantic partner a priority. If you or a specific friend will have a packed summer schedule, you may need to schedule time to communicate if you wish to do so in real time by phone or messaging. It may seem a bit mechanical to do so, but it may be necessary to ensure that some important relationships do not lapse.
3. For romantic partners, care packages, greeting cards, flowers, or small gifts may be a fun and thoughtful way of staying connected across the distance.
4. For student clubs, a group blog could be a fun way to capture stories, photos, and videos of what everyone is doing.
Staying connected during the summer will make reuniting at Trinity in the fall feel even more fulfilling. Be mindful not to go overboard with these long-distance connections, however, as you want to balance your “near” relationships with your “distance” relationships. Enjoy your summer, and stay connected with Counseling Services through our Facebook page!
