Karen Cervantes and Daniel Collin express their love for each other near the clock tower on the Washington Street Campus.
As spring break came to a close, books started opening, the lectures picked up where they left off and students started to get back into the groove of classes.
Keeping busy with midterms and assignments, it seems that there is little free time left for socializing or fun, let alone romantic relationships. However, many Amarillo College students go against the grain, finding free time to spend with significant others. From dinner dates to study-buddying, some students find that the benefits of dating offset the stress of college classes.
Business administration major Katie Beaton and her new fiancé, engineering major Trey Fransen, have found that their relationship might even be a secret to success in classes.
“We met in high school when he asked for my number at a restaurant,” Beaton said. “We have two classes together right now: U.S. History and Texas Government.”
Beaton explained that taking classes together helped her and Fransen reduce some of the stress of studying for tests and quizzes.
“Usually we make study guides for each other and go over them together,” Beaton said. “It can be a little stressful to manage time, but dating can also make things easier, especially if you take classes together.”
In addition to helping each other study, Fransen pointed out that taking classes together has helped the couple push each other to succeed.
“Being in class together actually tends to keep me more concentrated in class, because I’m pretty competitive, and I want to beat her,” Fransen said. “I do a lot of note-taking, so I sit behind her and we tend not to talk in class.”
Fransen also observed that he feels less distracted by having his fiancé in class.
“I don’t feel the need to check my phone since we are in class together already,” he said.
Jennifer Burkhalter, a nursing major, graduated from the AC Nursing School and is pursuing her bachelor’s degree. She said she met her current boyfriend, Mike Lemmons, when she attended AC before nursing school.
“We were in some sort of math class together,” Burkhalter said. “We dated while we were at AC, but when I graduated, we went our separate ways.”
After Burkhalter and Lemmons both spent time raising families separately, the two rekindled their relationship in the past few years. Burkhalter explained that the relationship began many years ago because of a classroom mishap.
“On the first day of class there were too many students, so they separated us on the first day,” Burkhalter said. “I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ll never see that guy again! He was cute!’ but then I saw him in the parking lot and we exchanged numbers. It was love and bliss after that.”
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