Agony Aunts: Will my Relationship with my Boyfriend Survive the First Year of Law School?

AUNT MYRTLE
Volume 1, Issue 1 (Originally published 27 February 2011)
 
Dear Aunt Myrtle,
I started dating my boyfriend in high school, and we’ve been together for four years, but I’ve
recently been told that our relationship won’t survive the first year of law school. Is this true? Help me Aunt Myrtle!
-Love Hopeful
 
Aunt Myrtle prides herself on being an expert on all matters of the heart. From her time go-go dancing in Rio, to spinning tracks at Studio 54, she has seen it all.
 
The answer to this question, however, depends on your relationship. Will your boyfriend get embarrassed when you’re drunk at the pub with friends and you lecture them on their liability if they get injured due to the court’s emphasis on autonomy? Will he cope with your breakdown in April because you haven’t yet learned to plan your time and had to resort to all-nighters for four weeks in a row to get through the essay overload? Will you still love him when he’s burping the alphabet while you’re struggling to keep legalese out of your vocab, and dodge sounding like a twerp? It’s difficult to know, and each relationship will be different.
 
It is important however to navigate through these common pitfalls, and factor in your decreased sanity at times of stress.
 
Aunt Myrtle’s tips for overcoming these hurdles are to never discuss big issues during assessment times; to minimise contact, and therefore avoid abuses to
your boyfriend’s
being, at exam
times, and to
keep law talk to a minimum (unless of course your boyfriend is facing charges, but that is a whole other, and slightly scarier, issue).
 
Aunt Myrtle is, at her core (behind the haze of pipe smoke and gin) an optimist and a romantic. She believes in you and your relationship, but will be here with her hanky and a stiff drink if it all goes bust.
 
Aunt Myrtle