As a child, I thought love was just something small. Something that I would know about later on. In high school, I started understanding what love really was about. Now that I am in college, I really don't even know anymore. With different experiences come different definitions, and there are so many different ways to explain what love means to you.

1. Male, 20

"I think love is when you connect with someone on a level that is undesirable. It isn't something that always makes sense or is logical all of the time. It is a feeling and a connection between people where you just want to help them succeed and be there for them. Love is understanding that times aren't always going to be easy but being willing to stick it out no matter the challenges that are presented."

2. Female, 20

"Love is seeing another person for who they are fully, without forcing them to be what you want them to be or act a certain way. It's knowing a person for who they are and being honestly and candidly connected to that essence."

3. Female, 19

"I think love is one of those concepts that are really difficult to fully encompass. There is so much, and it is so different to whomever is responding to the question. Love is given and received in a variety of ways, so sometimes it can be challenging to interpret, but when the person is right there are no hesitations. It is genuine joy and appreciation for the people you love or the things you do. The moments you never want to end, and look back on them with genuine admiration."

4.) Male, 21

"I think love is everything we hold close to us, everything that fulfills us-- small pleasures and intense ones"

5. Male, 24

"Love is accepting someone completely, the good things and the bad. But it is an active acceptance, one that motivates actions pursuant to their happiness and well-being."

6. Female, 50

"The purest love I have ever experienced is when I first saw my newborn sons' faces. It is a divine inspired love that is hard to describe- instinctive, instant, breathtaking, lasting. True love is sticking with someone through their darkest seasons of life. It's not easy to love someone who is at their worst, but we are called to love others as Jesus loves us, not just during good times when it is easy. Love is selfless, it is cheering your kids on when they leave the nest, move far way, etc, even though your heart is breaking inside at the thought of not seeing them daily. Truly, all you need is love, love is all you need."

7. Male, 28

"I'm not sure what love is. I'm not sure if I even believe in it."

8. Female, 55

"Romantic love is finding the person who completes you in a way not one else does. Love can also reflect what you choose to do each day - rushing to work because you enjoy what you do. I think love in each sense, reflects positive fulfillment. On the other hand, I love snarky teenagers because they are intelligent, challenging, and funny - which makes me happy....so I guess, again, it comes down to a sense of fulfillment."

9. Male, 22

"To me, love is being able to withstand any change and rely on one another to get through it. It's being able to completely trust someone like no one else. Having someone that is your partner through the stages of life, enjoying them because it wouldn't be the same without one another."

10. Female, 49

"Love is putting others before yourself and wanting to without bitterness or regret but instead with joy and happiness. It is accepting another regardless of their faults and mistakes. Love, true love, only happens when a purely unconditional bond is formed and nurtured."

11. Female, 16

"I believe that love is the most powerful emotion. The people I love, I immediately smile smile when I think about them. I think love is equivalent to comfort, safety, and support and when you've found that in someone, you know you love them and they love you. I also think that you can't experience real love until you have felt it about yourself, until you have found comfort, support, and genuine happiness in yourself."

12. Male, 30

"Love is individual, fueled by chemistry. Love is the beauty of the chase. We never stop searching for love."

13. Male, 19

"Love is unconditional; it's being able to handle and understand someone in their best days AND their worst days. Love is being yourself in the truest form without any shame, it's self acceptance as well as acceptance of others. It's at times someone knowing you better than you know yourself, it really has no boundary. It's LIMITLESS. Immeasurable."

14. Female, 21

"To me, love is about acceptance-- truly seeing someone for what they are, and caring about them regardless. I think comfort and honesty are huge parts of love too, but above all, I think you know you love someone when you enjoy your life more when you are with them."

15. Male, 18

"Love is wanting to put someone else before yourself."

16. Female, 80

"I love the view that takes my breath away. I love the touch that fills me. I love the anticipation of the dream. I love the completion of hope."

17. Male, 19

"Love is tricky to explain. To me, love is understanding. Once you start understanding someone, once you really see through their eyes you can't help but love them. But what most people call love I see as the will to understand another. There is no love without effort, making yourself see the world the way they do. This understanding changes you, it makes this person part of who you are."

18. Male, 18

"Love to me is an everlasting enjoyment of a person. Every time you look at them you get a sense of warmth and comfort in knowing that all you really in life is them. They are the thing that gives you your highest highs and you know that they will be by your side for your lowest lows. Love is knowing that you have someone to spend forever with that is what love is to me."

19. Female, 21

"Love is staying up until your girlfriend is asleep every single night because you know that she can't sleep if she is snoring. Love is waking up and making chocolate chip pancakes every Saturday morning because they are her favorite. Love is made up of all the little things that come together to mean everything."

20. Male, 23

"Love to me is loyalty no matter what. Love is picking them up when they have fallen even if you're barely standing yourself. Giving everything for that one thing."

21. Female, 20

"Love is simple. Love is effortless. Love is harmony. Love is where you can look someone in the eyes and they are looking back at you and you both are at a complete state of utter happiness to be with one another and smile within. Love is going out of your way for a friend and knowing they would do the same for you.

Love is holding their hand when you know it might be your last to do so, but never forgetting what kind of warmth and comfort it gave to you. Love is standing in front of a mirror and acknowledging that everything you see is you and you are unique and you are love. And if you can’t love yourself how the hell are you going to love anyone else."

22. Female, 55

"Being in a permanent loving relationship with your partner means working together to achieve goals that are mutually important. It means compromise, listening, adjusting and putting the other persons needs on the same level as your own. Love is about working together to make a strong foundation for both the couple and their children.

It's also extremely important to laugh together, cry together and always remember why you became a couple in the first place. It's never easy, there are always peaks and valleys, but when you find the one that is meant for you, you'll quickly realize it's worth every effort you will make."