As I approach graduation this May, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting—on my academics, my experiences, my relationships, and my own personal growth. For my whole college career, and even before then, I’ve been single. That’s not to say I haven’t had crushes or flings or whatever you want to call them, but I have yet to be in a single serious, functional relationship.

While in high school, I dreamed that college would be the time I would find my prince charming...or at least one of them. But I was wrong. I didn't get a boyfriend in college, and that terrified me. College is supposed to be the easiest time to meet people, isn’t it? You're surrounded by people your own age who share your own interests and are in close proximity. When else do you get that chance? Maybe once you land a job, you’ll find someone, but maybe real world responsibilities would interfere with that, too. The truth of the matter is that we never know when we’ll meet that special someone. As it turned out, for me, college was not that time.

For a long time, I thought that meant that I would be single forever. No relationship in college = no relationship, ever. That being said, I’m starting to rethink this. I have to be optimistic for my own sake. I can’t bank on the idea that just because I didn’t find that special someone in college doesn't mean I never will.

You need to believe this, too. We don't all have peachy relationships. We don't all have relationships, at all. That doesn't mean they'll never happen. It doesn't mean you're unlovable or that love isn't in the cards for you. It just means that it hasn't happened for you yet. That yet is key.

You need to retain hope. You need to keep moving forward with your life, whether you have a significant other by your side or not. You need to know that having a boyfriend or girlfriend doesn't define you. Its absence doesn't define you, either. You are you! And as soon as you realize that, you'll realize that Prince(ss) Charming was there all along—within.