Isabella, 20, together for 15 months

"I was sexually assaulted by a friend and fell into a deep depression. It was difficult, but we got through it with open communication and making sure I expressed my feelings. Open conversation is necessary for a relationship, and you need to be able to fully trust your S.O. Be open, honest, and loving. And don't be a dick."

Mackenzie, 18, together for 2.5 years

"There was a lot of emotional turmoil during my first semester far away [at college]. We were used to seeing each other every day, and seeing each other maybe once a month was very difficult. But about a month after being at college, he surprised me by coming up and visiting me. It was such a great day, and I knew that the current pain was worth the end goal. I've learned that not every day will be easy. If you want to be with them, it's a decision you have to wake up every day and make. You have to be able to work with them through problems because there will be problems. But, just love them with all that you've got. We have so many relationships, but it's important that we hold ourselves to making an active effort to be a part of their life as much as we want them to be present in our life."

Jamena, 21, together for 1.5 years 

"We've had to go through my mood swings with depression, anxiety, and self-doubts. These are things he handles very well but I don't. I often pick fights over irrelevant topics. There have been times where I felt like he would be better off with someone else, other times I felt like he doesn't get me enough—even though I don't always understand myself. After fights I usually curl up on the bed, checking my phone and trying to zone out. He keeps trying to talk to me, and even though this annoys me every time, at some point we find a good topic and pick up where we left off before the fight. But to make a relationship work, you must keep flirting, stay true, tell them your thoughts (positive as well as negative ones), work together and don't see it as a challenge, see it as a journey you go on together, and most importantly: if you need a day off, take your day off!"

Ellie, 18, together for 3 years

"There was a time where a friend of mine heavily came between us. I was so very confused and frazzled with all of the emotions I was feeling, and neither relationship (romantic and platonic) was remedying these feelings. My romantic relationship was getting too negatively charged, and it was weighing heavily on me. We took a serious break from each other, and, in that time, my friend tried to benefit from my loneliness. In the end, we ended up breaking off contact completely. I was heartbroken, and I was terrified that my boyfriend wouldn't want to be with me again after that. However, we talked for a long time about everything that happened. I cried to him, he cried to me, and we realized how absolutely stupid the entire scenario was. We had both made mistakes and said many heat-of-the-moment things to each other that we regretted. However, we knew that we couldn't live without each other. No matter how much we would try to rationalize some form of time away from our relationship, we just weren't complete without it."

Momma T, 45, together for 26 years

"Never questioned choosing him or marrying him, but I did question staying with him. He struggled with alcohol addiction at one point, and I had to really look at if I wanted to stay and love him through it or if I need to leave and let him figure it out. I chose to stay, and I've not regretted it yet. He got help and he's recovering, and I'm still so glad I married him.

"It's hard work to make a relationship last. You have to get up every day and choose to love that person. If you're not willing to put in the effort, it's never going to last. And you have to have trust in each other and be able to laugh at yourself and each other. Understand that it doesn't always boil down to who's right and who's wrong, but who's willing to bend this time around when you disagree. And it's never ever a 50/50 partnership. It's always gotta be 100/100. Some days he'll struggle and you'll have to give a little more effort, and other days you'll need him to give the extra effort. But if you laugh a lot, love always, and put God, first you'll be good."

Hayden, 19, together for 2 years 

"When my boyfriend worked nights, I had to drive him to work at midnight, and it messed up my sleep schedule. We didn't get to see each other much, despite living together, because he needed to sleep during the day. He has seen me have a mental breakdown, seen me have panic attacks, and was with me when I was going off my antidepressants. He was extremely understanding, and I don't know how I would have handled it without him. I know it was tough to be with me at that point in time, but he stuck with me."

Jimmy, 20, together for 4 years

"I knew that I loved them after our first major fight. I know that sounds odd, but we really learned how to communicate and the fight led to some amazing discussion where I knew then, this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Since then, we have done anything from making up and putting our arguments behind us to not talking for periods of time. More recently, we have been communicating a lot better, so we are usually able to put that stuff behind us. I would say communication and acceptance are key to a good relationship. If you can't feel comfortable around your significant other, then it's going to make it really hard to keep the relationship going, and it will cause problems down the road."

Hannah, 21, together for almost 5 years

"We went through a rough patch about a year in—he made a big mistake, and things were tough for a while. I didn't know if I wanted to keep going, but he showed me that he was sorry and that he wanted to make it up to me, so we decided to give things another try.

"Also, my S.O. is a Marine, so when he went to South Carolina for training we didn't have any contact except for letters for three months, and then he went to North Carolina to complete training and we were apart for another two months. But I went down with his family for his graduation from boot camp, and we had one of those typical reunions where the girl runs and jumps in his arms and he picks her up and holds her and they're both crying. His brother's girlfriend got it on video, and it still makes me tear up to this day, almost two years later.

"Overall, to make a relationship work, you must evaluate your priorities and compare them with the priorities and goals of your partner. If they mesh, great! If not, think about what is most important to you or how you can compromise. Tell each other you love each other every day, and never go to bed angry."

Sara, 21, together for 7 years

"I left him when I went off to college. It's still my biggest regret. I thought it would be good for us to meet other people and live our lives. I definitely questioned if this was what I wanted forever. He wasn't the issue, it was more of a terrifying 'missing out' feeling. I was worried that we'd grow to resent each other for not having more dating experience one day. I always said, 'If it's meant to be, we'll find our way back to one another.' And we eventually did! I dated around, he didn't. He texted me every single night for almost a year telling me I was still and always would be the one for him. He knew it all along. Finally, we decided to try again, and it was all uphill from there.

"I've learned you must be honest with yourself. If it's truly what you want, pursue it with everything in you. Love isn't easy — love is hard work and making choices that benefit you both. Tell them you love them every day. Be patient, be honest, be understanding, and realize that both of you will make mistakes. It's how you handle them as a team that will either make you or break you."

David "Dobrik," 21, together for 3.5 years

"Someone hacked my S.O.'s Apple ID and would text girls as if it was him. I thought he cheated, but Apple confirmed there was a third party on his ID. I learned that when you fight, it's you two against the problem, not you two against each other, so you must be a team and work together to get better."