Going to college is a new and exciting experience for everyone. During the first few weeks, you meet more people than you probably ever knew in high school and find all kinds of different things that you have in common. One of the most popular questions to ask someone is where they're from, as it's a great conversation starter whether they end up being from your area or not. However, the answer to this question rarely ever has an effect on the relationships we make with others. Whether someone lives five minutes from you or five hours from you doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things; what matters is that you get along with them and enjoy their company.
College is the first place that most people are introduced to long distance relationships. Up until college, most of the people you interacted with on a daily basis were from your area. College throws a bit of a curve ball at you by potentially separating you from a significant other at home or by introducing you to a person from a totally different place. Because we don't judge who we make relationships with based off of where a person lives, it's very easy to find yourself in a long distance relationship during the summers when you're in college. In fact, you'll probably get a lot of experience from long distance relationships.
Long distance can be awful sometimes. Long distance can be missed FaceTime calls, time differences or cancelled weekend plans because something came up. Long distance can cause fights, tears and breakups. But you know what? Long distance is good. Long distance reminds you to be independent of people and reminds you of how much you should cherish the time you get to spend with your significant other. Long distance can be the best weekends of your life, grand romantic gestures when you finally get to be together or daily conversations that make your heart skip a beat. Long distance can be the best decision you ever make.
While it's definitely hard, long distance is worth it if you make it worth it. You don't start a relationship with a person because of how often you can see them; you start a relationship with a person because whenever you do get to be with them, you have nothing be wonderful times together. It can be hard to keep these things in mind when you miss your significant other so much, but it's so important to remember when you're feeling hopeless about long distance. Sometimes, the distance is too much to overcome for people. But if you can overcome it, you will not be disappointed.
