Hi everybody! I'm Amelia, but feel free to call me Amy. I'm a 19-year-old college student in the US.
I remember being a young kid and imagining what my first romantic relationship would be like. I was sure that by the time I was in high school I'd have my first kiss, a boyfriend, weekly dates in fancy restaurants... Since I'm here, you can guess how that's gone. By middle school, I was analyzing every interaction I had with boys my age (and eventually girls my age) to see if it was romantic or if it was just someone being nice. One of my close friends at the time described her feelings for her crush as if I was a little kid, because I genuinely didn't understand what she was experiencing.
The term "aromantic" was introduced to me early on in high school, when I finally told a classmate that I'd never had a crush that I didn't make up on the spot. At first I was adamant to prove that I wasn't aro, because I was so worried that something was wrong with me or I was being punished for some unspoken crime. I thought that I would be utterly alone for the rest of my life. Eventually, I made some amazing friends (who, yes, all turned out to be queer lol) and realized that there was so much more to the world than amatonormativity. My lack of romantic and sexual relationships doesn't limit my capacity to love, or to have wonderful and fulfilling platonic relationships with the important people in my life.
I finally admitted that I wasn't straight just before I turned 16. I was eating lunch with a girl who just kept complaining about her boyfriend, and eventually caught myself thinking "Wow, am I glad I don't like boys." Needless to say, I did a mental double take. By the end of the day I accepted that I was somewhere on the aro and ace spectrums.
So, yeah! I'm aromantic asexual, I've got a great group of supportive friends, and I'm slowly working on coming out to my family (just give me a few years). Yet as comfortable as I've become with my identity, it's still frustrating to know so few aro people in real life and see every aspect of the world saturated by romance. I'm happy to know there's a whole community of us out here, and I'm excited to get to know you guys and talk to people who understand. Hoping y'all are healthy, safe, and happy!
