The start of college is already intimidating enough – you’re beginning a completely new life in a completely different place, oh, and not to mention trying to figure out what the hell you want to do with your life. Having the pressure of staying with your high school boyfriend certainly doesn’t help relieve that stress, but I’m here to tell you that is it possible to manage a long-distance relationship in college. In fact, speaking from my own experience with my boyfriend, it will probably be the best thing you could do for your relationship!

1. It will help rule out how well you actually work together.

Let’s be real, if you break up with your significant other out of fear for something as simple as distance, then you will never know if that relationship could have worked out or not. You have to at least try! The worst thing that will happen is you break up, but at least that will prove to you if it was really meant to be. Really, long distance relationships do you the favor of ruling out if that person was right for you and if they were actually the loyal person you thought they were. You can rest easy knowing that you gave the long-distance thing a shot but that it just wasn’t in the stars for the both of you.

2. After that, your relationship will be even stronger.

Once you get past the rocky beginning of transitioning into college, and your relationship has proven strong for that rocky beginning, you will start to realize how much you love your person. Stop to think about this for a second – out of all the people in the world that they could meet they wanted to stay with you and make it work, and still after all this time in college they are just as devoted to the relationship as before. Once that sinks in, you both will realize how much stronger your relationship is getting and it will make your relationship feel invincible.

3. It’s in both of your hands to make sure it lasts.

At the end of the day, it’s up to the both of you whether or not to make the most of the long-distance. You both have to put in the effort to communicate often, but not so often that it feels like you are suffocating each other. If you aren’t making friends because of your significant other than you know something is wrong, but it’s up to you both to discuss these issues like mature adults if you genuinely want to make it work. All it takes is a little conscious communication, honesty, and maturity, and you will have nothing to worry about.

4. It will be hard, but it makes things that much more special.

One of the lowest points you will reach in the long-distance relationship is missing your person so badly that you physically can do nothing but cry. Maybe you’re worried that they’re forgetting about you or that they’re meeting new people who seem untrustworthy, but this is when you have to remain confident in your significant other and trust them no matter what. You may get jealous at times (probably for no reason) but if you keep making it a reoccurring issue in the relationship then, of course, it’s not going to end well. Trust is key, even when you’re at that low point!

5. When you finally see each other, it will be the best feeling in the world.

This feeling is pretty indescribable, other than the fact that it really is the best feeling in the world! After going weeks without seeing your person and missing then so badly that it begins to hurt, there is genuinely no better feeling than being reunited with them at last. All the weight of that pointless stress will lift off your shoulders instantly and the time you both spent apart will melt away. It will feel like you never even had any distance between you and you will be reassured to know that nothing has changed besides the fact that you are in college now. After this reunification, you will be positive that if your relationship lasted this long then it certainly can last longer, and that is the only consolation you will need from there on out.