Hello!
I was wondering if anyone here is had any comments/ suggestions for maintaining a relationship in grad school where both people are students. To give a bit of background, my partner and I first met in orientation week and we have been together for over two years. We entered in the same year and are both biology PhD students but in different areas of biology. While I find the relationship a source of comfort and support, I must admit that honestly most of the time I feel simply exhausted. I decided midway through my first year to apply to a simultaneous Masters degree with my PhD which doubled my course load. In addition I have a PI that's... shall we say " motivated" to succeed? Basically he's a rock star faculty and doesn't understand why us mere mortals can't handle his insane expectations. At the same time my partner and I have polar opposite personality and I think that it takes a significantly more effort to understand each other than say two people who have similar personalities. I don't know how people make time for romantic relationships in grad school. If by some miracle I have some free time, he's busy with lab work. I do have friends in grad school who are in relationships/ marriages, but they all either had an established relationship before they started grad school or there is only one person in school and the other person is working. I want this relationship to work but our schedules are only getting worse and I can't think of a solution. Also there's a nagging voice in the back of my mind that is worried about graduation. I am set to graduate at least 6 months to a year before him ( due to differences in our programs/ individual projects) and neither of us are keen on long distance relationships. So there's a part of me that's worried that our relationship is doomed to fail. I don't exactly know what I'm asking but I feel stuck and exhausted so I guess I'm wondering if anyone had any advice???
