Q: My guy and I have been dating for about six weeks now and he's just not as into me as he was before. Now we fight all of the time. Am I doing something wrong?

– doubtful87

Brittany: No. What you have to realize about relationships is they are ever changing and they grow. Stage one in a relationship is all about hormones in the sense that your bodies are designed to biologically get the two of you together.

After that, the ‘honeymoon’ phase begins. Life is good and beautiful. You two were made for each other, so on and so forth.

The next phase is the hard one for couples to get past. This is where fighting begins. I like to think of people as rocks and relationships as rivers. Slowly and over time, rough rocks are worn smooth by the running water. Give your relationship time to get to that smoothness. It’s not that he’s not into you anymore; it is simply that the ‘honeymoon’ phase is over and the real relationship has begun.

Give it time and together you can work through the kinks.

Tyler: It’s very likely that you’re doing something wrong. You know how sometimes you ask him what he’s thinking about and he says, “Nothing,” and then you say, “No, really,” and he replies again with, “Nothing,” and then you begin to fight about lack of communication? Well, it may come as a shock, but 95 percent of the time, men really aren’t thinking about anything.

Sometimes a blank stare is a blank stare.

Q: The semester has made me so stressed. What are some ideas to relax in the midst of all this academic pressure?

– stressed&diressed

Brittany: Luckily, you’re talking to a pro when it comes to relaxing and anxiety.

You can visit the upstairs portion of Goddard Health Center and make an appointment to see a psychologist who can help you to work through your stress. In the meantime, what I suggest is making a list of things that you find peaceful, relaxing or distracting and follow the things on that list until you calm yourself down.

My list contains taking walks through Norman’s local parks and writing in my journal. In fact, what I can really recommend for anxiety is to write about it. Getting it down on paper is a healthy way to get it out of your system.

Tyler: So you’re stressed? Well, how many hours are you taking? If it’s more than 12, there’s part one of your problem. Are you involved in extracurricular activities? If so, scratch them — they’re way too hard. Normally, I find when you don’t have anything to do, you’re way less likely to be stressed out. You want to leave yourself plenty of free-time so when finals come around you can start reading your textbooks and visiting the library — the one with the books, not the booze.

-Tyler Branson and Brittany Burden are english seniors.