Here's How To Survive Class If You Stopped Hooking Up With The Person You Sit With

Hooking up with someone in your class can be pretty convenient: You two can do homework and study together, then blow off some steam afterwards. But when that ends, and you're no longer hooking up with someone in class? That can get awkward real quick. Do you say hi to them anymore? What if you called things off because you started seeing someone, but they were actually into you? What if you're assigned to work on a project as partners and have to spend time together?

I spoke to Erin Tillman, dating empowerment coach and author of The Consent Guidebook about ways to handle this awkward situation and what to do if you find yourself in it.

Right off the bat, Tillman recommends you try and make things less awkward by being friendly.

"To diffuse tension, it could be a nice gesture to give them a friendly smile or a quick hello to show them that you’ve moved past any weirdness that you may have experienced together," Tillman tells Elite Daily.

If you two are assigned to work on a project together, Tillman says you should try to make some friendly conversation with them at first.

"It could be helpful to start a casual convo beforehand by asking them how they’ve been ... or ask them about something that you remember them being involved in when you were hanging out," she says. "This can ease the tension and be a great reminder that you are human beings that had a nice moment together, not mortal enemies."

Not saying anything to them or generally avoiding them is probably not the best move, says Tillman.

"[Avoiding them] should be a last resort, especially if you’re in a small class together," she says. "You don’t want to do anything that will distract you from your work or add negative energy into your daily interactions."

If things didn't end well if the other person called it off, "Treat the interaction like a business relationship," Tillman says. "Be cordial, get your work done, and get on with your life. Try to avoid any unnecessary drama if possible."

"If you ended it, reach out to make an effort to be friendly with your ex-hookup," she says. "They might feel awkward and may even be holding on to feelings of rejection, so anything you can do to ease the tension and show some kindness could make your class interactions less stressful."

At the end of the day, you're in class to learn, concentrate, and grow as a student, and you want any potential distractions of awkwardness around an ex-hookup to go away. Thinking about how to confront them, or how you should conduct yourself will only get in the way of the real reason you're in class. So make sure you get that out of the way, so you can do what you're there to do.

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