In high school, people often meet someone and build a relationship. They’ll either make it out of school and become high school sweethearts, or they’ll end it before high school is over.

While some people would call them “soulmates,” others don’t believe in soulmates and think it’s a made-up word with no meaning.

“I [believe in soulmates] because my boyfriend and I dated in the seventh grade, and we were, on and off, for a while, and now we’re sophomores in a relationship,” sophomore Aliyah Cruz-Miguel said.

Soulmates don’t have to be brought together in high school or after high school; they can be brought together in middle school. Cruz-Miguel and her boyfriend, sophomore Jonathan Romero-Quiroz, met in seventh grade and began dating soon after. They didn’t last all of middle school, but they soon crossed paths again this school year. While Cruz-Miguel and Romero both believe in soulmates, other students don’t.

“I don’t think [soulmates are] real because there are too many people in the world and too much time to ever have a soulmate,” senior Max Rose said.

There are a lot of people in the world, some of them have jobs, and a lot of them are in school, so finding a soulmate seems unrealistic to people.

“I think [finding a soulmate is from] a higher power from God, like definitely,” sophomore Diana Rodriguez said.

Some students are religious, and others aren’t. A few believe that God picks soulmates, and others think it’s completely by chance.

“[You’d know you found your soulmate] because, with the person you are with, you’d feel a certain type of way,” Romero-Quiroz said.

According to Worldometer, there are 8.3 billion people in the world. And according to Insitute for Family Studies, about 60% of the population believes in soulmates, more of them being girls than boys.

“[To me, the term soulmate means that] you guys are just connected in a way that nobody else can change, and get in between,” Cruz-Miguel said.