Love is always a topic to talk about during February because of its special holiday dedicated to love and relationships, but this Valentine’s Day will be one to remember. Sophomore Andrew Mikula and sophomore Brook Winkler have been together for a year and eight months and were with each other a lot during quarantine.
“In the start of quarantine I wasn’t allowed to hang out with anyone but Andrew, our families are close,” Winkler said.
Although spending a lot of time with your significant other sounds like it would be a great idea, sometimes it can cause problems.
“Obviously there’s a lot of ups and downs, and more of the downs came in the later parts of COVID because it’s new and we got to spend everyday with each other in the beginning, but obviously when you hang out every single day, things start to get hard but you learn to get through it,” Mikula said.
Mikula and Winkler have been with each other since before COVID began, but the quarantine has made their relationship have challenges.
“Sometimes it’s hard being in a relationship during COVID, our one year date we had to delay because of quarantine,” Winkler said.
Because of COVID they had to put a pause on a big day in their relationship, but that isn’t the only thing quarantine has caused.
“We would have just little arguments and then those build into more tension and the biggest thing is you need to learn how to talk through it and just listen to each other,” Mikula said.
Winkler also said that since quarantine started they’ve had more arguments and fights, which can cause bigger problems.
“We’ve had thoughts about if we should break up or not, and when that happens we kind of take a break from talking to each other but that’s normal. There’s a lot of stress in the world right now to be really short with each other, but you just have to get through it because you have each other. We always end up missing each other too much when we get in those arguments,” Winkler said.
The arguments and fights Mikula and Winkler get in might be caused by the stress that COVID has put on them and everyone else.
“When you hang out with each other so much, one little thing can get you annoyed and then something else will happen. It’s just the stress of being home all the time,” Mikula said.
The couple has ways of fixing the arguments they have, the strategies they use also worked on arguments before COVID.
“The biggest thing is that you need to listen to each other on the problems that you have and then you have to respect it and not get mad in those conversations which can be easy but also can be difficult,” Mikula said.
COVID has caused some difficult times in the relationship because of not being able to see each other.
“Not having a lot of patience with each other is a hard part right now during COVID, and not being able to do all the fun couple stuff like dances, it causes stress. I hope to get through the pandemic and make up for all the fun things we’ve missed,” Winkler said.
Although COVID has caused problems, Mikula doesn’t believe the word “hard” fits quite right.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s hard being in a relationship during the pandemic, because you’re with someone who you really like and love. It’s obviously not going to be easy, any relationship shouldn’t be easy, you have to work for it,” Mikula said. “There is a very thin line between a relationship you need to fight for and one you need to let go, and ours is a relationship that I will very much fight for.”
Junior Jayden Kelly and sophomore Janie Sulecki have been together for almost a year, starting their relationship during COVID.
“We started dating on the day that schools closed, it was March 13. We went in quarantine and at first I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal, but my parents wouldn’t let me see anyone, I wasn’t allowed to go out and I couldn’t see him at all,” Sulecki said.
Relationships during COVID have looked much diffferent than those in years past without a pandemic.
“At first it was hard because in a normal relationship you see them everyday but when it comes to COVID you have to be more cautious about the people around you, you can’t just think about yourself,” Kelly said.
Because of quarantine the couple hasn’t been able to see each other as much as they would like to.
“You want so badly to see and talk to each other in person but you can’t because you can’t go there all the time. It gets super frustrating and it causes you to take that frustration out on the other person so that can cause arguments,” Sulecki said.
The stress and frustration of COVID can make communication hard, especially when you can’t see each other as much.
“There’ve been ups and downs, with some parts of quarantine we couldn’t see each other for like two months at a time so it was difficult to communicate, it’s a lot to adjust to. I’ve always liked Janie for a long time so it wasn’t hard for me to adjust because I’ve always liked her,” Kelly said.
Communication is an important part in any relationship, with bad communication arguments can form.
“There definitely have been a few arguments, there’s a lot of stress on everyone. I like to just get straight to the point and talk about it, we always talk about it in an even way, never yelling, it’s never an aggressive conversation, we just talk it out in a calm manner and fight through it,” Kelly said.
COVID hasn’t just affected the communication and the stress in the relationship, but also how couples choose to spend time together.
“Our dates that we go on are picking up food and eating in his car and then go back to his house and watch a movie, so it’s kind of like a makeshift date night, we make popcorn and we hang out,” Sulecki said.
The two couples have made it very clear that the hardest part of COVID for them is not being able to be together, face to face.
“That hardest part is not being able to see them, when you’re alone you crave that physical touch and it makes you sad, you miss them a lot but at the same time at least you have them in your life,” Sulecki said.