During the short span of my dating life, I have had two serious relationships. I use the term 'serious' relatively, because I make it a point to not let myself get too involved in any relationship I've been in. I don't mean that in a crass way, but I begin a relationship with the outlook of "If I'm happy as a couple then we stay a couple, but the minute I'm not happy, I am not willing to push that aside because of time we've put into our relationship."

But both of those relationships have been long distance. My first boyfriend went to UCF while I was still in high school and we had a two year gap. He left approximately three months after we started dating, and at first it was insanely difficult. I was depressed to the point where I never left my house and I rarely ate. I figured if I spoke to him everyday it would be like he was there. Every night we would Skype while we ate or did homework, and we kept thinking it'd get easier to say goodnight and hang up, or that it would get easier to say goodbye when we finally got to see each other in person. But it didn't. It took about six months into our separation for me to go out once with a new group of friends, and that night was the first time I realized I didn't mind being long distance.

While I was out, I missed my boyfriend but I realized how much I liked being on my own. I didn't want to be single, I genuinely enjoyed my relationship and loved the person I was with, but being on my own and having all that time to grow and do my own things while still maintaining the support my boyfriend gave me was an amazing feeling.

Most people would say "long distance never works," but I don't necessarily agree with that. I will say it's not for everyone because I can see why someone would hate it. My relationship with my first boyfriend didn't work out, but not because of the distance. In fact I think it may have had to do with us being closer together in the summer, and realizing how different we had become.

We dated at very difficult ages, he was entering college and I was still trying to enjoy high school and have all the experiences. We broke off relatively soon after school started up again and that was the first time since he had originally left that I felt the pain of being alone. I went through a serious bout of depression around the holidays, constantly being reminded of our best memories that occurred around that time and felt like I had made a mistake.

But I read that when you love the memories more than the person, its time to move on. So I did just that.

Months later, I began to date my current boyfriend who lived in Miami and had recently graduated from my high school. I figured that having a boyfriend in my city would be a nice change of scenery and it was, until I left for UCF. But this time around it was different. I was sad, but I didn't cry. I wasn't worried about temptation on either side, or about drifting. I had created that mindset I mentioned earlier in the article, and it changed my outlook on relationships.

My boyfriend and I miss each other like crazy and try to see each other as much as possible, because we keep each other happy. Being apart has made us stronger as a couple - we are more trusting and more passionate. Every time we see each other it's the most exciting part of our month, and it's something to look forward to! But when we're apart we don't talk all the time, we don't Skype, we do the things we have to do and reconvene when we're both available. My favorite part of the day is listening to the stuff he does and how excited it makes him.

I love having my space most of the time. Being in a long distance has helped me enjoy my alone time, which I wouldn't give up for the world.