“”Everything’s better than it’s ever been,”” said communications sophomore Kaitlin Simpson CQ KAITLIN SIMPSON, while reminiscing about the relationship she and her boyfriend have shared for a year and four months.

Simpson and her boyfriend began dating near the end of her senior year and his junior year of high school. Like many hovering in the wake of major change, they faced the grueling decision of what to do next. Stay together? Break up? Or try a solution boasting increasing popularity: take a break?

Simpson and her boyfriend decided staying together was the only option. Just because the decision came with ease doesn’t mean it was executed smoothly.

“”At some points it was a lot more (difficult) than breaking up would have been,”” Simpson said.

It can be a challenge getting yourself to go out and have fun because you spend so much time wishing to be back with them instead,”” Simpson said, adding that despite the hardships, “”it was completely worth it.””

The question of what to do next as college life peaks above the horizon leaves a bitter taste in many couples’ mouths. Unfortunately, not all relationships are built to brave a year apart physically, while still being committed emotionally.

Charles Stineford CQ CHARLES STINEFORD, a pre-business junior, dated his ex-girlfriend for two years before college. The choice of breaking up or staying together was one he had been pondering for some time. Stineford and his then-girlfriend left their relationship in high school, moving forward separately to begin the next chapter of their lives. Stineford admits the decision and its repercussions were simple for him, but the break up brought forth a period of tears and anger for his ex.

“”She hated me,”” he said.

But Stineford said it was much better breaking up than taking a break would have been.

“”We were going to college in different states so it would have been impossible to keep a relationship freshman year,”” he said.

Though the experience wasn’t without its guts and gore, Stineford said it worked out well in the long run.

“”After cooling everything down…we became…good friends,”” he said.

It seems the end-all is never left standing without its share of emotional strain.

“”Overall, I wouldn’t say it worked out well, but I wouldn’t say I necessarily regret it,”” said secondary education sophomnore Taylor Knowles CQ TAYLOR KNOWLES about his decision to take a break. “”We didn’t want to hold each other back from getting the full college experience, but it…ended up…that we were still more or less together.””

Cornered in a maze of unintelligible boundaries, Knowles admits the situation

was emotionally taxing, and negatively affected his academic and social life. Once he and his ex fell out of contact for a while, Knowles said it gave them the opportunity to settle in and experience college the way they imagined it should be.

Nancy Funk CQ NANCY FUNK, a school psychologist from Portland, Ore., offers a professional opinion about which post-high school relationship decision holds the most pain. She said the decision to take a break is the most distressing, but some students think it’s a nice way to break up without hurting the partner’s feelings. Because the relationship is left “”nebulous”” and without clear distinction, Funk said taking a break produces the most traumatic result: in a sense, adding insult to injury. The psychologist’s advice on this subjective issue? Don’t play games, be clear and verbalize your intentions.