my girlfriend is not from my country

well, this thread has most probably been done a million times but here is the 1,000,001 thread.

I met a girl whilst I was overseas and I fell madly in love with her and we have kept in contact every single day since we first met (one year on) via IM, skype and visits. I have visited her in her country and she has visited me in mine, and I am planning on seeing her very soon again in her's.

I have confessed my love to her and she has told me that she loves me alot too, we say it regularly so I do believe that she has the same feelings for me as well and she will go out of her way to get in contact with me. She has started her postgrad studies and it is going to take three years to complete and I am currently in my first year and going to graduate in 2 more. She is younger than me by 3 years, she lives in one part of the world whilst I live in the other........

So what I am after is..... is it worth pursuing this further? we have had "the talk" about where it is going and she says that she wants to be with me however she says that she doesn't want to hurt me just in case it doesn't work out and she is confused (because i am spending so much effort to be with her as I am planning on seeing her soon and going to be applying to study in her country).

I am so in love with her and I don't know what to do, I can't bear the thought of her being with anyone else and the same with me. I know what some responses are going to be... such as, break up because it will be too hard because of the whole different side of the world thing but a lot of people must have been in the same position as me right? Please tell me what you have done in this situation. :(

Are you from countries that speak the same language, or do you speak her language (or vice versa)? If yes to any of those, is it possible for one of you to transfer to the other person's country to study?

If not, then I would say to keep going as you have been - staying in touch, seeing each other when you can... You don't want to rush into anything when there's nowhere to go for the next few years. It sounds like education is important to both of you, so neither of you would want to just quit school altogether to be with the other person. I would say to take a deep breath, keep the big picture in mind, and focus on your education. The time will go faster than you think, and when you both finish school, you can decide where to go from there.

Being with someone from another country isn't just a fun game, it's not just another relationship like any other that you can simply get out of whenever you feel it's not working out for you... Being with someone from anther country means that both of you (and usually one person more than the other) will have to sacrifice a LOT and give up huge parts of their lives. It is nothing to play around with, and should be entered into cautiously, with a great deal of practicality and maturity.