3.

3. Breaking up with my long-distance boyfriend as I started my second year of university: My first year at McGill I had a long-distance boyfriend from my hometown. He was attending a school in Massachusetts an 8 hour bus ride away. We would talk online every night from 10:00 to midnight. That is not an exaggeration. In case you didn't connect the dots, this also meant I never went out; my social life was non-existent. It's also worth noting that the flip side was true for him as well. Basically, the relationship wasn't a good thing, but we were each other's safety net, a constant thing to count on when everything else was new and scary. I did two things as a freshman: 1) I excelled at school and 2)I missed my boyfriend. It was a long torturous year.

Half way through the following summer, I had decided there was no way I could go through that again. We both deserved more from our college experience. I was terrified of what it would mean to not have someone else to rely on, but I was convinced it was for the best. It took us a while to finally break it off, but by mid-september, now back at school, I was totally on my own.

Much to my surprise I made friends. I went out. I partied. I flirted with boys. They flirted back. Second year was a blast. I found out I didn't need someone else to tell me everything was going to be alright. I was just fine on my own.