VIEWPOINT MAGAZINE Volume 2.3 March 2014 | Page 10

Surviving the Distance
By Peter Cho
together in class, which consistently got us in trouble
with our teacher. We always had lunch together. Every
weekend, we went to the mall where we watched
movies, took pictures in photo booth and shopped
together.
However, on July 29, 2011, the SAT camp ended, and
we had to go on our separate ways. She went back to
Malang, and I returned to Salatiga. At first, it was really
difficult for us because we couldn’t see or talk to each
other face to face everyday like we used to. A few days

“Distance means so little when
someone means so much”

A

dults are quite often surprised at how two young
teenagers could handle a long-distance relationship.
Generally, adults consider teenagers to be incapable of
engaging themselves in such serious relationships. They
assume that young people’s actions and decisions are
hasty and careless, and indeed, many foolhardy teenagers
do become living proofs of such stereotypical
assumptions. Moreover, numerous statistics and
researches confirm that teenagers are less likely to be
successful with dating experiences.
However, many teenage couples show that they are
competent, mature and responsible enough to be in long
-distance relationships. Among such determined couples
are Joseph Lee and Sarah Youn, Dominic Martin and
Abby Robertson, and last but not least, Laura and
myself. We demonstrate that young adults are fully
capable of taking relationships as seriously as adults.
My relationship began on June 6, 2011, in Bandung
where I first met Laura Jasmine Pope. We both came to
Bandung to attend a SAT boot camp, and ended up in
the same class. In such intimate and close environment,
we soon grew an interest in each other, and eventually
started dating. We then spent the next two months of
SAT camp as a very happy couple. We always sat

9

later, contrary to what many people expected, we
decided to continue our relationship. We promised to
call and Skype each other everyday. We promised to tell
each other everything, and be fully honest. Finally, we
promised to visit each other as often as possible.
Though we have made several mistakes since then,
often getting into fights, we continued our long-distance
relationship. We called each other every day and just
talked about what happened each day. Some of my
friends have asked me if I have ever run out of things to
talk about, and my answer has always been, “No,”
instead, “I have too many things to talk about.” The fact
that we started dating didn’t change our identities as
students, so we decided to focus on our school work as
well when necessary. We also wanted to be good
examples to those who stereotyped that couples
generally do poorly in school because they are distracted
by each other.
A week passed, then a month. And then after two
years, Laura graduated from high school, and moved to
Australia for the next chapter of her life. Before she left,
we had a serious dilemma ahead of us. Up to that point,
we had been, at least, in the same country, but that time,
we were going to be in different continents.
Once again, contrary to what people, including our
parents, anticipated, we decided to continue our
relationship even though we knew the challenges we had
to face. Currently, it has been almost six months since
Laura left for Australia, but our bond of love is still
steadfast and passionate, and we look forward to what
our future journey holds for us.