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SBU | Wellness > Sex + Relationships

I love you…at least I think I do

Gabrielle Martin Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Three words, eight letters: I love you.

These are some of the most difficult words for some people to say. As a person who has said this word to past romantic partners, difficult is an under statement. Truthfully, the first time a guy ever said ‘I love you’ to me I went in his bathroom and threw up. This is a moment I can laugh about today, but at first it scared me.

I have always been someone who never said these 3 words to a lot of people, so having someone say it to me was absolutely terrifying. I never wanted to feel this way about “I love you”, but over time I have come to terms with it.

A lot of this has come from growing up with family members who did not normally say these words to me. It took me a lot to be able to say these words to other people. I obviously have grown up saying these to my parents, but not too many other people but them. As I have grown up, I have started saying these words to more people. I have grown to say it to my best friends mostly and even my grandparents now. However, it is still a learning experience.

When it comes to saying ‘I love you’ to people I have dated, this is something I still struggle with. I will always be the second person to say I love you to someone. This is not because I feel it after someone says it to me, but because I can think the words in my head, but when I go to say the words they physically will not come out of mouth. Also, the fear of saying those words to someone and them not reciprocating physically irks me to think about.

I have always dreamed of being loved by a guy since I was a little girl, but as I have grown up I have learned to be afraid of it in a way. For me, it is hard to know if people have meaning behind the words they say. I am trying to cope with this as I get older and think about possible future relationships. I think a lot of plays into the right person as well.

I hope in the future to to feel more comfortable saying those three words, but for now I have realized that I am scared to say those words and that is okay for now. It will take time and the right person for me to feel like I can say those words.

Gabrielle Martin

SBU '27

Gabby Martin is a junior writer for HerCampus. This is her third year writing for this organization. She writes about her emotions and current life situations while also talking about mental wellbeing and self care.

Outside of HerCampus she is an Educational Studies major. She also participates in the BEA and Psychology Club. Her last two years writing for HerCampus brought her so much happiness that she cannot wait to embark on another amazing year with this chapter.

She is from Caledonia, New York which is about 30 minutes outside of Rochester. In her free time she's love to spend time with her friends going out to eat or going on walks. She love reality tv shows as well as cheesy romantic comedies. Her favorite food is bagels and she drinks a coffee every single morning when she wakes up. Her main goal in life is to have an imprint on someone's life or have a positive influence on the choices they make in life. She's a girl who definitely makes a ton of mistakes and tries to help others not make the same ones.