Six months ago, I was pushed from the birth canal of college and into real adult life. Sometimes, I am kicking and screaming like a minute-old newborn, and other times, I get a little pensive. Mostly, I have been considering how much my existence has changed over these last few months. The most obvious? Less free time. The most affected? My long-distance relationship.

I started dating my boyfriend in January 2026. What could have been a simple senior-spring-fling quickly turned into something with gravitas, and I knew even after we tossed our caps that I still wanted us to be together. Going into graduation, we knew post-grad life would have us on opposite corners of the country: me in NYC and him in San Francisco. We’ve been navigating this new terrain since June, but summer and PTO made the time more manageable. Now, with real work schedules and no syllabus promising winter break, I’m suddenly thrust into a double-whammy of an adjustment: life post grad and the perils of LDRs.…