My parents were very supportive of me to go to East Carolina University. Even though my stepmom had only been in my life for a couple of years, she was like a real mother to me. She had helped me with my SAT's and college applications and became my number one supporter. My parents encouraged my extracurricular activities at school and were very happy that I got into the Education Living Learning Community. I also started attending therapy sessions during my freshman year.

Even though I was happy to be at East Carolina University, I was struggling with my depression and my stepmom helped me to get into a good therapy program.

Sophomore year, I didn't have a roommate in the spring and I was fixing up the room and realized something was broken. I only knew 2 people who lived in the building at that time, so I went downstairs to ask Preston for a screwdriver. That's where our love story began.

I tell people that I went downstairs to ask him for a screwdriver and have been with him ever since and they laugh. It is true though. I had gone downstairs to ask him for the tool and Preston and a friend came upstairs to help me fix the fridge. We moved objects around the room and he helped me arrange stuff.

Once we finished rebuilding my room, we went downstairs, drank some soda and chatted. Preston and I sat on his bed when his friend left and stayed up all night talking. We talked about our exes, our flaws, our mental health, our experiences with institutions, and just life in general. I felt like I could open up to him and I told him about what happened to me. We stayed up all night and ended up passing out on his bed at around seven in the morning.

I woke up later that afternoon and we were cuddling, it felt nice. We hung out for a couple of days going into town and visiting stores and getting to know each other. He was iffy about the whole thing at first because he had just gotten out of a bad relationship about a month prior, but he eventually asked me on a date. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings since both have a love for wings and it was an amazing first date. We dressed up and had a lot of fun.

We were supportive of each other and encouraged each other to follow our dreams. He referred me to a therapy office and we supported each other in going to therapy and throughout the whole process. Even now, we spend a lot of time together. We cuddle a lot because he is a very affectionate person and he enjoys playing with my hair. We watch tv shows together and play video games. We work on our homework together and he even helps me with my teaching assignments, especially when I get stressed out and he's always there to help me relax.