When you hear the word "crush," you probably think about a boy in your fifth grade math class who said "hi" to you on the first day and then you spent the rest of the year picturing what your kids would look like after you got married. But despite popular opinion, crushes don't die in middle school, or they shouldn't. In fact, developing an innocent crush on someone in your late teens and early 20's is probably one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.

The older you get, the more likely it is that you've been in at least one serious relationship, or have loved at least one person in your life who probably didn't deserve it, yet somehow took a lot longer to get over than you would have liked. Just reading this, there's probably at least one person who comes to mind. In college, relationships and heartbreak are about as vital to the whole experience as the classes you enroll in. But while falling in love with someone is one of the best feelings we can ever experience as human beings, there is nothing more detrimental to our own health and happiness than experiencing heartbreak.

This is where crushes are key.

Now, having a small crush on someone is completely different than actually falling in love. The person you have a crush on might be someone you talked to once, or the cute boy who you suffer in silence next to in your hardest class. But developing a harmless crush on a person is one of the best things you can do for yourself when you are recovering from a bad breakup. Not only is it a sign that you're starting to move on, but it's also a healthy way to get your mind off of that other person. And just the fact that you are even allowing yourself to develop feelings for someone else, no matter how small those feelings may be, is a sign of progression and coming to terms with the fact that you lost something, but that doesn't mean you have to give up trying to find something else. And, since it's just a crush, you know that even if he doesn't return your feelings, you won't be entirely disheartened by it. You won't start losing sleep and crying about him every time you take more than three shots in a night. Crushes aren't meant to be an emotional investment. They are supposed to make you look forward to going to a boring class, or maybe dress a little nicer when you're walking around campus, or just simply give you a welcome distraction from the more stressful, complicated aspects of your life that you'd rather not be reminded of all the time. And, perhaps most importantly, they are a reminder that a bad breakup or general heartbreak, something that feels like the end, isn't really the end; it's just an opportunity to find something better.

I know getting a crush on someone seems like such a small thing, but it ultimately means that you are allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to like someone else again, and that alone is proof that you are moving in the right direction post-heartbreak. Even just allowing yourself to like someone else is a huge step, because it's an unconscious acknowledgement of the fact that maybe the other guy who broke your heart wasn't the only person who would ever be right for you, even if it sort of felt like it at the time. Even if your crush doesn't like you back, even if he doesn't really know who you are, developing any kind of feelings for someone new is still a crucial step towards something better than what you've been feeling.

If nothing else, it makes you remember what it feels like to develop feelings for someone, that unmistakable bubbling in your stomach, the nervous smile that creeps across your lips when you pass him on campus, and the genuine one that sticks with you long after he has passed. There's nothing like the feeling of liking someone innocently, quietly; nothing can match it. It's genuine and special and ultimately one of the best things you can do for your future love-life and overall happiness.