I just finished my Freshman year of college at West Chester University and I am proud to say that my boyfriend and I survived it together. We have been together since 8thgrade and we have had people telling us for the last 5 years that we will never make it. Good thing we didn't listen because we are still as happy as could be.

I will admit we were both afraid in the beginning. We knew we could make it work but it would be very hard, and it was. I had one professor tell us on the first week of class to raise our hands if we had a significant other from high school. He told us to look around and that almost no one would still have their hand raised come Thanksgiving break. And he was right.

Within the first month, almost everyone on my floor had broken up with their boyfriend or girlfriend from high school. Granted, most of their relationships were no more than two years long but still. The transition from High School to college is definitely a big one and one that most people are not prepared for. Most people do believe that you cannot fully experience college while still dating someone from high school, but here is my response to that.

You'll have double the amount of friends.

Sure, there are definitely some things you will miss out on at your college if you are visiting your boyfriend or girlfriend at a different college, but why can't you have just as great of an experience at their college? My boyfriend goes to Ursinus College which is only about a 40-minute drive for me so it was definitely nice to be close to each other. I did visit him every 2-3 weeks but even though I was leaving all of my friends at West Chester for the weekend, I was also going to visit all of my friends at Ursinus. Because it is such a small school, after visiting once I instantly had friends who I would visit and hang out with every time I visited my boyfriend.

He was also on the baseball team there, so there was a team of about 30 kids who would all soon become some of my closest friends. At West Chester, I didn't really go to parties much because I hated being in a dark room full of people I didn't know, but every time I visited my boyfriend I could walk into any room and I would know someone since there are only about 1,500 people who go there. And although I wouldn't spend every weekend at WCU I was able to come back on Sunday nights and dive right back into the environment and have a movie night or go out to dinner with all my friends on my floor.

You'll have a constant support system.

College can definitely be a difficult transition and in the beginning, you may find yourself needing to make a whole new group of friends if all of your high school friends went to a different college. Having your significant other who knows you better than anyone else only a text away may be the best thing ever. Knowing you always have them is definitely a great feeling. You can tell them everything about your crazy week and new classes and you can hear all about their great new experiences. Just because you're still dating doesn't mean you will miss out on anything, you may actually be able to enjoy things even more since you'll always have someone to share your life with.

There is no pressure.

In college, everyone seems to be on the constant search for their future husband. There is a fear that once you graduate you'll never be able to find someone to marry soon enough to be able to settle down and have kids and follow your life plan. If you are still dating your boyfriend from high school you are already on the same page regarding your future life plans and you won't feel any pressure to get someone to fall in love with you ASAP on top of all the other responsibilities of school.

I couldn't imagine having to go through a break-up and then start a search for a new boyfriend all while also adjusting to your friend year of college. There is no pressure to meet someone new or have a bunch of random hookups just to "fit in." I have never been a part of the hookup culture and I never will be, so that part of the "college experience" did not appeal to me at all. I do not think you need to hook up with a random person every weekend in order to fully experience college.

Staying with my boyfriend throughout our first year of college and hopefully, the next 3 to follow was the best decision I could have made. I was able to actually enjoy my year better than I ever imagined and I have met some of the greatest people and made amazing memories both at West Chester and Ursinus, some of which I would never have happened if I didn't stay with my boyfriend. Everyone's college experience is different and I love being able to fully experience mine with my boyfriend by my side.