It's not to say that I want to be single or that I chose the single life, but it's also not to say that I don't enjoy it. As a first-year college student, an immeasurable number of things alter from the way that you've always experienced them in your childhood. One of the many things I cannot help but notice is the seemingly endless stream of Facebook status updates my friends and mutual acquaintances will post that all read "in a relationship". These "life events", as Facebook dubs them, pop up constantly and completely randomly, and, I'm not going to lie when I say, they can be kind of crappy to observe.

This flood, this torrential downpour of budding romances definitely can force a hopeless romantic such as myself (underline and bold print hopeless) to be driven to quite the perplexing state of mind, cheering or coaxing on all of your friends, wishing them the best, and also can make you feel like everyone you've ever known is officially taken and you are the sole lone wolf of your high school class as you remember it. Even all of your new college pals seem to all be entering some incredible rom-com sequence in real life. But hey, I am a girl who knows what she wants and needs to truly be content, and right now, that is myself and all those who love and support me.

If you are living the single life though and not feeling as positive or optimistic about it as I am, let me briefly walk you through the ultimate compilation of the absolute best things about being single. You can do you, and no, not literally, get your mind out of the gutter!

You can be yourself and enjoy every second of it without stressing or psyching yourself out about what any other person thinks of you.

Honestly, they are not thinking of you much at all likely, the world is, unfortunately, a place lacking in selfless people in these times. You get to be independent and can be a spunky sassy spit-fire and make the whole room glimmer with bashfulness every time you laugh or smile. Being single is really an opportunity to be the rawest you will ever be in your life.

Another key point to the exceptional bliss that being single can be is the inevitability of alone time. You can take the chance to treasure that sacred time spent alone doing whatever makes you happiest. You can make your plans for an incredible night in by yourself or with your roommate or section mates, or you can get together with some friends and go out on an adventure. There is no need to feel like you must structure your plans around the hectic schedule of another person, you work hard and your own life is already chaotic enough, have fun with no judgement and treat yourself to some quality time with family or friends, they don't come and go nearly as often, at least from what I've observed. There is no petty drama involved in your life either. Romantic relationships might be the most dramatic and stressful of relationships a person can ever experience, doesn't mean we don't love it or it isn't fun of course.

Next time you are feeling down about yourself because of a silly relationship status, dismiss your worry and be cognizant of the fact that there are plenty of people in the world and you will find the one for you, so just enjoy the ride while you get there. Being alone and being lonely are two related concepts, though completely different in meaning, so understand that being alone does not equate with loneliness.

If you feel like you need someone else to make you happy or encourage you to be motivated, you need to take a step back and focus on loving you for a minute. How can you expect to love someone else if you don't even see yourself as enough for you? Hold on a second until you realize how incredible, how enough, how worthy you truly are before you even glance in the direction of another human being.