In September of 2016, I had one of the toughest conversations I think I've ever had. I told my boyfriend of 5 years that I had made the decision to return to college. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Except I told him I was doing it 1,097 miles away in Florida.

I'll never forget the knot in my stomach when I weighed out what meant more, my desire to pursue my dreams or my love for him. At first, I was pretty resilient in the idea that long distance could never work and this simply meant the end of our relationship. I said things like "If we're truly meant to be, we'll find our way back to each other."

We went a week without seeing each other. I figured if I could distance myself when we were still in the same city, I could definitely do it with seven states between us. The lie detector determined that was a lie.

After that week I felt sick. Foolish and dismissive of his feelings, I had just taken it upon myself to decide it wouldn't work. I didn't even give how it would work a thought, let alone a chance.

We spoke, and he quickly expressed that no distance could ever change his love for me. This gave me hope. So we gave it a shot.

8 months ago, in January of 2017, I made the move. The first week was unbearable. I called him on the phone too many times a day, obsessed over the idea he would cheat and cried--a lot. The week after that, it was getting easier to fall asleep alone but I was still crying--a lot.

After a month and a half with a thousand miles between us, I had a weekend off from school and booked a flight back to New York for a short visit. I sat on the plane anxious as could be. As excited as I was to be in his arms again, I dreaded the thought of what that might feel like now.

I feared that the spark would be gone. He would take one look at me and only think of his anger over me leaving. I was so, so wrong.

It was as if, with all that distance, our love flourished. It became bigger and grander and far more real. To make up for the miles stretched between us, our love stretched its span.

I'm certainly not trying to paint this type of love as easy. It's difficult. It takes patience, understanding and a lot of 'but what did that text mean?" But I truly believe that our love is stronger for it.

In spending so much of my time away from my favorite person, I have learned to accept the things about him I cannot change and fallen more in love with the things about him that I miss most.

In a long distance relationship, you may find yourself frustrated, unhappy or even falling out of love. And thats okay. Odds are if you can't make it work with a bump in the road like distance, imagine how you two would handle other bumps. Would it be any better?

But remember not to keep yourself from giving it a chance. Because like me, you may find that you are with someone who truly supports you in every step on your journey.