Photo by Julie70 on flickr.com

Relationships; never easy, but during university they can be especially hard.

A lot of people have come to uni still having a long term partner either back at home, or at a different university. Many people get through their three or so years having a long distance relationship and it works fine, but many more fail.

With uni comes a lot of new experiences. For most students, it will be the first time they have lived away from home - the first glimpse of adult life.

I started uni last year with a boyfriend. We'd only been together a few months before I left, but I knew he was worth staying with. Our sisters were best friends so we'd known about each other for a while. We'd take it in turns visiting each other on alternate weekends, and spent almost every day together over Christmas.

At New Year I met his extended family. But in February, things just went downhill. He was working full time up in London and had a lot of pressure on him to do well, while I was having the time of my life at uni without a worry in the world!

In the end, the immense differences between our two new lives drew us apart and we broke up, which actually did turn out for the best.

Some couples can't stand the changes and break up, but others stay together through it all. However, many of these cases can end up with heartbreak as one or both of the people will begin to look elsewhere.

Uni is a very different lifestyle, and with all the pressure to go wild and party every night, it's inevitable that these things happen. But the strongest relationships withstand all these pressures. Separation only seems to make them stronger, and I admire those people.

I'm a great believer in fate, and if it's meant to work out then it will. Uni changes people, and with the winter blues kicking in at this time of year, we are bound to re-evaluate our situation.

But whatever happens, we need to make the most out of our time in Portsmouth. You only live once!