Anyways, we're in a long distance relationship right now. We were going to be at the same school but something went wrong -- I'd rather not discuss it -- and now we're stuck like this until we can make some sort of change.

We tried getting my boyfriend back to the east coast but his Mom is being a pain in the ass and never wants him to leave the house. Unfortunately, he needs her to co-sign his loans so he can't go against her wishes. And you may as well not suggest alternatives for financial aid because he and I both have already researched the matter. I even tried seeing if I could co-sign for him but we knew that'd be an epic fail from the start. So was his applying for one without help. That sunk like a lead balloon. We knew it would but we tried anyways.

At the rate we're going, we won't be together for two more years, maybe even a bit more than that. We've had a lot of ups and downs but my boyfriend has really grown up. Lately, he's been pushing for me to move out to the west coast for school because I think he finally realized just how badly he wants this to work about 6 or so months ago.

The problem is my Dad. He's kind of a jerk, very controlling, and seemingly almost heartless. He and I...don't get along...put very kindly... Before I seriously start looking at schools near him, I sort of wanted to see what other people think. Is this silly? It's not like I'm dropping out of school (which is what my boyfriend's mother did when her now husband moved away for college) and his location is actually one of the best in the United States for my chosen profession. And really...all I'm trying to do is start a life. Life isn't just college. It's learning, growing, loving, working, etc.. I can't live at home forever and being away during the school year can be lonely and stressful and sometimes seem meaningless when the most important person isn't with me.

And if one of the major concerns is us breaking up...well, that could happen at any point. I could marry him and divorce him 15 years later. I could marry him and divorce him 15 months later. So you can't really avoid things that might fail out of fear, right? And he and I have lasted almost two years so far, most of that time having been spent physically separated. He understands me like no one else does and puts up with my issues and I help him with his. It's hard to imagine not having him...

And if my credits transferring is a problem, well...I have a lot of worthless credits. When I transferred to the school I'm at now, I brought in 99% liberal arts credits and very few credits that actually mattered. Most of them could go without me even batting an eyelash because, frankly, my first year of school basically consisted of me bumbling around and asking questions. I don't think more than two or three of my classes actually came into play when I finally chose my major so if some spilled over and got eliminated, it wouldn't put me behind any because this last year was the only one that counted towards anything and even then, a few aren't totally relevant now because I changed "flavors" if you will.

So I suppose you could say that I've given this a fair bit of thought. I know that I'd pick a school that has housing. I know that it might even cost the same amount that my current school does (I'd be an out of state student either way), maybe slightly less. I also know that I could save up money over the summer for plane tickets back and forth and that some of the stuff I currently take with me isn't necessary if I go further away. And my boyfriend's mother flies enough that she has some sort of cheap plan or deal going on so I could research that as well. And I know that a lot of kids have flown further away than I would be so it's not like it's undoable. I mean, if you get accepted into Harvard and you're from California, I really don't think it'd be wise to turn it down because of air fare so it happens.

Any other angles I should think of? Is this totally nuts?

My other instinct is to think about what would happen if you went through all the trouble of transferring only to find out that you two aren't as good together in person as you are apart.  You could risk losing everything, and you just have to decide if that is something that you are willing to do.  Sure you could get married sometime down the road, but it doesn't mean that you will.  You also have to think about the reactions of your parents etc.  What if things don't work out?  Will you be able to go home to them?

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If you come across a car accident after midnight, and everyone is sober;
Keep looking, you are missing someone.

-Rules of EMS