If you don’t want to be in a relationship while you’re in college, THEN DON’T. It really is that simple! But do not, and I mean DO NOT, tell someone who is in a good, stable, loving relationship that they shouldn’t be with their significant other just because they are in college. So this is for those who say that you shouldn't be in a relationship in college.

College is a time to grow and experience new things, but that doesn’t mean you should completely get rid of the idea of love or a relationship. It’s possible to experience everything you want to in college while being in a relationship. Maybe you won’t go out as much as your single friends or do the “walk of shame” back to your dorm one morning, but if you’re in the right relationship, none of that will matter. It is also entirely possible that when you get to college you know who you are, what your major is going to be, and maybe what you want out of life. No, you aren’t done growing into exactly who you want to be, but that’s okay. You can still love yourself and love someone else, even though you don’t know exactly what you’re doing (because how many of us really have perfect lives that are always under control?).

Waiting until you’re out of college to get into a serious relationship isn’t going to guarantee that you won’t get a divorce. College has nothing to do with that. When you know, you know; that’s all there is to it. There isn’t a certain age that you need to be to have a successful relationship or to get married. You could be 16 or 60 when you meet the person you’re meant to be with for the rest of your life. Either way, that person is your person, and college isn’t a good enough reason to cut things off with the one you love. You won’t be any happier than you were when you were with them. The same thing goes for meeting someone in college.

My boyfriend and I have been together for a little over eight months, and every single one of those eight months, I’ve been away at college. He lives in my hometown and I go to school about an hour away from home. I don’t know how I’d do college without him in my life. We don’t talk every second of every day and I don’t stop what I’m doing just to talk to him or answer a text and neither does he. I rely on him a lot, and that’s okay. He pushes me to study harder and focus more on my work and even motivates me to get out of bed and go to the gym. I am a member of different clubs on campus and I still go home every weekend to see him and sometimes we meet halfway and grab dinner or a movie. If you’re willing to try, and the relationship is right, college won’t matter at all.

If the relationship is bringing you down, I can almost guarantee it’s not college, it’s problems within the relationship. So, if you’re in a relationship (‘serious’ or not), don’t let anyone tell you that you need to dump your S.O. so you can have the "full college experience" or that college is going to ruin the relationship. If you’re happy in your relationship and you love the person in your life, that is all that matters.