I’ll preface this article with the fact that I have not had a ton of experience in the realm of relationships, but I’ve had my own unique experiences that I believe relate to a lot of women in our society. I’m also the first to admit I have had my fair share of dates with guys I swiped right to, but this romance this summer is different than them all.

My mom has always told me that love will come when you least expect it, and well, my mom is one smart cookie. In this day and age, it is so hard to have faith that you will find someone when you least expect it, let alone without the help of technology, but my summer romance was just that — a boost in my faith for love.

I walked into the Reno Rodeo on the 17^th of June expecting nothing less than to have some fun watching some roping and bull riding with my cousin and friends. Behind us sat what would become some very close friends of ours, as well as a gentleman who would message me on Facebook a couple days later. I ignored that message because I was busy with work and spending summer not worrying about a guy, and then the worst happened; I deleted messenger and could not message him back after my cousin kept encouraging me to message him! With overcoming my technological challenges, I was finally able to message him and the rest was history, as many may say.

I was so used to swiping right and left according to how attracted I was to someone, that a guy messaging me that he wanted to take me on a date and actually get to know me and not just take me home that night to his bedroom, was a complete change in outlook for me. I had the “I guess I’ll give him a chance” attitude, and I look back on that and am actually disappointed in myself. My outlook on love had become shrouded by my use of technology and society's views of what “love” is, that I was close to not giving this guy a chance. I was looking at love as such a superficial emotion and I was more worried about being visually attracted to the person rather than attracted to their soul.

My summer romance has taught me to not just look skin deep. My summer romance was the most handsome and sweetest guy I had ever met, but if I had not grown this summer as a person and realized that my outlook on love was so clouded, I would have never gone on the dates and adventures that I did. Me and my summer romance only have about 2 weeks left together here in town, but I look at this relationship and realize that a summer romance can blossom into something more, something long lasting. As much as I hope mine extends into the fall and winter and beyond, I know that if for some reason it does not, I have learned some very valuable things about my outlook on love. Love comes into your life when you least expect it and it is deeper than just the outside appearance our society is so focused on nowadays.