Love can be expressed in a variety of ways. Some are subtle, like a rose anonymously stowed away in a locker. Others are direct, like a heartfelt proposal delivered in a fancy restaurant.

Still others are just plain silly, like six Instagram posts in a row professing how in love the two of you are after dating for a whole two days.

Despite the fact that some of us still grapple with the concept of the distributive property, many of us teenagers inexplicably consider ourselves to be experts on the ever elusive concept of love. As such, we often dive headfirst into the intricacies of romance with a level of gusto that really isn’t warranted.

Love is an exciting possibility, but perhaps it’s a possibility that we all get a little too excited about. Though it certainly isn’t an objectively quantifiable concept, it’s pretty hard to argue that love entails the two of you acting like you’re never going to see each other again when third period rolls around. The 15-minute procession of heartfelt goodbyes, hugs and kisses is really only agonizing for those of us who are actually trying to get to class and have to walk around your homemade reenactment of the “Titanic” ending.

Here’s the hard truth: None of us really know what love really is. Not yet, at least. Pumped full of hormones and irrationality, we are perhaps at the worst age to properly evaluate our feelings. We can hardly stay loyal to our favorite celebrities, let alone actual human beings.

Furthermore, with the power of social media in our hands, relationships have only become more impersonal. Conversations are increasingly replaced with cutesy one-second Snaps. Instead of genuine interactions, we settle for an incomprehensible flood of emojis.

The only time I have ever involved emojis in my love life was when I was five and on a date at the Pizza Parlor in Club Penguin. It didn’t work out.

However, I’m not against dating at our age (though I do think middle-schoolers should at least try to get their grammar down first before they start smooth-talking). In fact, I tentatively support it. Because just as one should play a few practice games of chess before a national tournament, so too should one have some form of relationship experience prior to entering college, where you will (assumedly) enter something serious. For there are pitfalls and traps in both chess and dating—what not to say about their clothing (“That looks a size too small”), their mother (“She’s so annoying”) and—God forbid—their memes (“I don’t get it”).

Being in love is a wonderful experience. It’s somewhat comparable to eating a tasty spaghetti dinner after a long day of work.  You would want to carefully savor that experience, wouldn’t you?

With that, I give you all my blessing to chase your hearts. Just make sure your brains don’t lag too far behind.