In high school I heard it all the time, “Oh but you’ll never last in college,” or “College is for having fun, why would you want to go in having a boyfriend?” Well, I have a news flash for those people, sometimes, staying together is what makes people the happiest.

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t easy to move hours away from your significant other and stay together. It calls for lots of texting, missed phone calls, an occasional Facetime, and insanely long Snapchat streaks. But, sometimes, it’s worth it.

I met my boyfriend in high school, and while there is nothing extremely romantic about the way that we meant, we fell for each other. Neither of us were looking for a relationship, but after finding each other, that quickly changed. We just clicked. Our personalities complemented each other, we had fun doing absolutely nothing, and we went through some similar struggles. We were pretty much a perfect match, at least for the time being.

When college rolled around, we decided to try and make it work. And let me stress this, it’s okay to stay together. It’s okay to want to make your relationship work, whether your hundreds of miles apart or attending the same University. If your significant other makes you laugh, understands you in ways no one else does, and supports you no matter what, why would you ever want to get rid of that? Love is hard to find, real relationships that matter are hard to find, college is not a reason to throw that away.

Now let me stress something else, you have to follow your dreams and work on bettering yourself if you ever want your relationship to work. Do not change your plan for anybody. Do not pick a school that’s closer, just so you can see your significant other a little more often. Follow your dreams. Do what brings you the most happiness, because if it’s meant to be between you and them, it will work out. You don’t ever want to grow up and resent your boyfriend or girlfriend for holding you back, especially if you manage to stay together that long.

If you’re in a relationship in college, you will face struggles. You will watch your friends flirt with others at parties, and sometimes it might feel like you’re missing out. What you have to remember is who you have waiting for you at home, and how much that person is worth. Sometimes you will miss them so much it hurts. You’ll cry while you watch romance movies because you just want to hug them. You’ll cry when you’ve had a bad day and they aren’t physically there to comfort you. While it will be hard, it will be worth it.

When things get really hard, remember how good it feels to come home to them. Remember how it feels to hug them after a long day, and the way their laugh instantly makes you smile. Remember how it feels when you see them for the first time in weeks and finally get to be with them. Remember that it’s okay to stay together, especially if you’re both the happiest when you have each other.

So if you and your significant other are a perfect match, who cares about the distance, stay together and figure out the rest as you go. We’re young, and we have so much ahead of us. If you’re happy, take the plunge and go for it. It will be well worth the parties you skip for your Facetime date, and the nights you miss them the most. In the end, if it doesn’t work out, know that it wasn’t wasted time. If it made you happy, be proud of it, and don’t resent the time you spent trying to make it work. There is nothing wrong with choosing to stay together, college or not.