Lately, I've been seeing a lot of articles floating around the web that preach the same message: stop single shaming. These articles argue that women who choose to be single in their adult life should't be viewed as strange, but as the independent women everyone should strive to be. While I completely agree, a relationship should not be necessary for a person to be happy, I feel like this type of thinking presents another type of shaming.

Relationship shaming is something that I have experienced throughout college, and it started as early as a few months before freshman year. I started dating my boyfriend right before our graduation from high school, and it seemed like immediately after people had found out we were dating we got asked the exact same question: "But what are you going to do in college?" Granted, my boyfriend and I had just started dating, so we were still in the puppy love stage when we answered most of these questions. "Oh, well we're just going to figure it out closer to time" was our go-to answer. However, the closer and closer we got to freshman year, the more we got asked. It didn't help that I was going to a different school and going Greek. Most of our friends and family all believed I would most likely cheat, or just get bored of having a boyfriend so far away.

Flash forward a year and a half later, and one transfer, and my boyfriend and I are still as happy as we were before college. Despite the differences in our social circles, we make it work and have learned to balance our time to see each other as much as possible. Going to school together strengthened our relationship, and it definitely made us closer in the long run. However, now instead of getting asked "what are you going to do," I get asked "But don't you feel like you're missing out?"

This question infuriates me, as I'm sure it does every other girl that is in a relationship in college. My first question back is always, "Well, what am I missing out on?" Yes, I miss out on some parties and the experience of dating around. But I don't miss those things at all, which is what single people in college don't understand. Yeah, sometimes I spend Thursday and Friday nights watching movies and cuddling my boyfriend, and trust me that's just as fun as going out to a fraternity party. I still get the college experience, but I get to do it with my boyfriend: my best friend, the person that makes me feel pretty great about myself, and the person I have the most fun with. Yeah, I have fun without him, and he has fun without me. But at the end of the day, it's pretty great to always have someone to whine to, get coffee with, and cheer you up when you're so stressed out you want to cry. I miss out on some things, but I gain a whole lot more.

So stop relationship shaming, just like you should stop single shaming. How about just stop shaming in general? Relationships in college are pretty cool, just like being single in college is pretty cool. Either way, you'll have a great time in college however you choose to spend it.