Boyfriend Leaving For College

My boyfriend and I have been dating for 1 1/2 years. He is leaving for college next week and will be around 6 hours away. I'm also going to college at the end of the month. I feel like in order for me to grow out of my shell in college i need to break up with him but I don't want to hurt him 😞 I feel like this is just a new beginning for both of us and we need to be independent... What do you think we should do??