College is the perfect time for dating. And as an “adult,” you probably should be at some point. The great thing is that there are a variety of people to choose from while on a college campus. However, if you're one of those people who wants to get serious with someone, you probably don’t want to date just anyone. You want to find the one, right? Let me just tell you right now—it’s going to be your best friend.

The happiest and most successful relationships occur with best friends. They’re who you want to spend all of your time with, that one person you don’t ever want to leave! They're the one you turn to when you’re sad, happy, stressed out of your mind, or even just bored. They’re your main squeeze, and they allow you to be one hundred percent YOU. So if there is any kind of connection between you and your best girl (or guy) friend, then why wouldn’t you want to get serious?

Let’s be real here, you’ve thought about it, and you know it could work. You’d make it work, they're your best friend. So what’s holding you back? Rejection? The fear of breaking up and losing them? Those are valid concerns, and ones that have real meaning behind them, but life is risky, and sometimes we have to jump in order to find happiness. So for those of you who aren’t sure if they really are your best friend and if you should even take the chance, let’s clarify.

If you love to tell that one person all about your day and the crazy things that are happening in your life, and they come to you for the same thing, they’re probably your best friend. If you find yourself sitting in class thinking about the funny story you can share with them after, they’re probably your best friend.

If you talk to them every day, even when they’re away from you, you guys are probably best friends. Basically, if you think about them first, and you go to them for everything, they’re definitely your best friend, and you should consider dating them.

The thing that trips people up is the idea that once you start dating your best friend (or anyone, for that matter), it becomes this sudden intimate relationship and that scares them. However, it’s not so much that kind of a relationship as it is just you guys being best friends, with a little something more. It’s always been about friends first, partners second.

The honeymoon phase is a phase for a reason, everybody. I’m not saying that the romantic nature of the relationship is wrong—that obviously needs to be there to sustain it. I’m saying that the intimacy of the relationship grows because you are best friends. So maybe we need to stop searching so far because the person we are looking for could be right in front of us.