I [20M] am not sure how to handle what feels like the end of my relationship with my girlfriend [18F].

Hey everybody, even though the title hints that a breakup is imminent, I really hope that isn't the case.

I'd like to start off by saying that my girlfriend, despite her flaws, has been really great to me for the most part. We started dating in high school and have had a lot of great times together. She's always been very supportive of me and vice versa, overall seems like a great relationship. We are very close and love eachother very deeply. We've been dating for around 2.5 years.

The issue: I don't remember how it came up, but I asked her if she decided to go to college in the town we live in if she'd still want to date me, and she reluctantly said she wanted to have a college experience. This really hurt my feelings. I understand her perspective on this because I already go to college here in town.

I told her how I felt, but she didn't really seem to understand. She said it was my choice and that she would've understood if I wanted to break up when going to college, which in my opinion completely misses the point of why I'm upset. I'm upset because I was willing to keep dating despite sacrificing the "college experience" and she is not willing to do that. She said she doesn't really want to break up, but is afraid of regretting "missing out on the college experience" even if we stay together forever. I didn't know what to say so I just went home.

I don't really know what to do. I think it's wrong for me to stay in a relationship with someone who is planning on breaking things off when it becomes her turn to sacrifice, but on the other hand I really enjoy our time together and know it will be fun even if we do split ways in the end.

I know it probably doesn't seem this way reading the post, but this girl loves me a lot. I think she's just immature and maybe just talking impulsively, but I'm afraid to take that chance. She keeps saying she's sorry and wants to just continue on the way things are, and that she doesn't know what she'll do when the time comes, but I'm not sure I can take that chance. I've been putting off talking to her about it. I don't want to break up with her, but I feel like that's my only option here.

Reading back over this it seems so obvious, but of course with these there's always a lot of context that I can't write out. I wonder how many people write up these stories on this sub, only to come to a conclusion just writing it out.

Has anyone here been in a situation like this? I don't think talking to her about it will solve anything because obviously she wants to keep dating until it's time for college.

TL;DR My girlfriend told me she is thinking we should break up when she goes to college, even if we still live in the same town. This upset me because I already go to a college in town.

Submitted February 24, 2020 at 02:12PM by typical_breakup https://ift.tt/2VhS1mg