In late 2016, my first semester of college, I broke up with my ex-boyfriend of roughly two years. Shortly after, I decided to try dating apps to find someone else to talk to.
I know what you're thinking, "You were on a college campus. Why not go out and meet someone?"
I can answer that.
I didn't go out and meet anyone because rejection face to face is a lot harder on the self-esteem than a rejection on a dating app.
Anyway, I had been using Tinder for a couple of weeks when a photo of a blue-eyed guy with a dog caught my eye. I swiped right and luckily, so had he. He hit me with the pickup line "I usually go for 7s or 8s but I think a 10 will do." We set a couple dates that fell through before we finally went on one and the rest you can read about here.
I had never met Dylan before we got together. So I had the opportunity of getting to know him without any prior knowledge or impressions. Which means I have also gotten to watch him grow and change from that point and it has been incredibly rewarding.
We weren't the perfect match from the beginning. We had nothing in common and we challenged each other in almost every single way possible. We hit quite a few rough patches. We did a lot of bickering and not a lot of compromising. But, all of this actually end up being a good thing.
We did a lot of growing together. We did a lot of learning, too. There were things had to learn about myself and fix that I would have never known were issues had I not met Dylan. There were problems I would never have gotten through alone and with his insight and rationality in the face of problems, I got out on top.
There were times when I had to call him out on things and help him work through things he couldn't go through alone. Through all of this, we became stronger and happier as individuals and together.
We experienced a lot of great things together as well. Dylan took me to my first Metallica concert after he had gotten tickets for his birthday. We got to spend the day in Baltimore, ate at the Hardrock Cafe and enjoyed a brand new experience together.
I got to watch Dylan graduate high school. We had only been dating a few months but it was great to watch him get his diploma. I also got to congratulate him on buying his first car. He even helped me get a reliable car to last me the rest of college, something I could not have done without him.
For Christmas, he gave me a promise ring, which was one of my happiest moments so far. I gave him one as well and they are reminders of how much we love each other and where we've been.
I would have never grown in the ways that I have or achieved the happiness I have at this moment if I hadn't gotten on tinder and swiped right on the love of my life.
