For over five years, I have been whole-heartedly committed to one man. I knew from the first date that he was the one I was going to be with forever. We met in highschool through a mutual friend, who, through a series of events, is not our friend anymore. But moving past that, everything we have learned and been through, even though rocky, has gotten us this far. Since meeting sophomore year of High School, we have been through so many milestones together. We learned how to drive, took our first presidential vote, became legal adults, went to college, and became legal to drink. We have so many more monuments to reach together and I’m so excited about it.
So, this is me telling you girls not to give up on relationships going into college. I had so many people telling me that it would never last, that I’d want to meet new boys. Even my parents asked why I was staying in a relationship and why I wasn’t “exploring” new options. My answer is: if you know, you know. And even though I knew, as did he, that it would be hard, it was worth fighting for because nothing great ever came that easy. We are silly and fun. But we fight. But even after our fights, we kind of stop and look at each other and say, what are we fighting about? And we just know that no matter what we go through, we know it’s going to be ok and it’s a mutual feeling.
I had and continue to have such high hopes for our future and why would I throw that away over some frat guy at a dirty frat basement party? That was an obstacle we definitely had to overcome. The fact that I was in college and wanted to go to parties with my friends created a tightrope of trust between me and my boyfriend. I had to give him that reassurance that, A. Nothing was going to happen and B. he could trust me because I was only going out to be with my friends and make better friends. He definitely had to take that in and learn to trust the fact that I can handle myself around these types of crowds. It is also hard splitting time between him and my friends and classes and clubs! God, it is so hard. The main cause of our arguments is the fact that my time isn’t all about him anymore. Of course he’s a priority, but at this moment in my life, school is a top priority as well because if I don’t graduate, I will not have the future I want or deserve and therefore, cannot be the person I want to be with him. It’s a struggle now, but it will all pay off. I know I’ve had my fair share of crying and venting to my friends. But in the end, it’s because I just want so badly to get through all of this stress and complications to finally have the life I’ve been dreaming about with the love of my life.
Which brings me to my last thought. Girls, if you have been with a man for over five years, and are about to graduate college and begin some type of real life…expect a ring. I am not saying mine is coming today, tomorrow or even next year. But good god, it better be here before the day I turn 25 because I certainly did not go through all of this to be a blingless-ring-finger, no commitment, woman in her twenties. I mean, to be honest, I would say yes today if he asked. I am so ready because again, if you know, you know. And I know he feels that to, but usually men are the more…realistic ones. So, I get that I have to graduate first and we have to have jobs and figure out somewhere to live. But, it’s definitely something that should be discussed and you shouldn’t feel awkward to talk about it. Good luck to those who are going through this, stay strong and keep the love!