I never thought I would be the person to settle down at a young age. For a while, I felt rambunctious and alive. I wanted to constantly be doing things. I wanted to make crazy memories. But then I met someone. And despite everything you hear about how settling down young is like leaving a party early, it’s not true. My party has only just begun. I’m only now figuring out who I am and sharing it with someone who’s still learning as well. We grow and adventure together. And as everything feels so off balance with college and living on my own for the first time in the city, I have been given a constant and balanced part of life.

It gives me something to smile about at the end of a rough day at work or days I have too much homework. Every time I make plans I know I won’t be alone. For me, it’s a piece of something that I didn’t know was missing. I have been given things to look forward to day after day and even years in the future. I found something I didn’t know I was looking for. Something I didn’t think was going to impact me so greatly. Motivation I’ve never felt before. I’m not working hard for just myself anymore, I’m working hard for a part of someone else, too.

And like every relationship there is a chance it won’t work out but there is no reason to not try anyway. You might find the best thing that could happen to you. Even if I refuse to talk and feel miserable, there’s someone there to hold me. Someone to collect my tears. And when I’m hyper and anxious I have someone to take me adventuring up mountains or just walks down the street. Finding love at a young age showed me that I was meant to have a partner.

I pushed people away thinking a relationship would only hold me back but I have never felt so eager to succeed. I want to make him proud to share a life with me. To live the dreams I have every night asleep together. I cherish being looked at like special gift. Being someone’s first thing they see in the morning and before they go to sleep and loving every minute of it. Being someone’s shoulder to cry on and knowing they will always be the same for you.

Finding your person doesn’t have to be after college. And finding your person doesn’t have to be after you’ve thought you’ve found them before. It is okay to find your one in the first one. If you are truly happy then you are not wrong. Some people are never truly happy and some people find happiness early in life. Love is not based on age. I have found a soul as wild as mine and we have an entire world to explore together. I strongly believe we were meant to begin now so we have as much of our lifetimes as possible.