Jacob would never understand the concept of 'opposites attract.' The only woman he had ever loved was similar to him in a lot of ways. His high school girlfriend. They bonded over wanting to make a difference in the world and a shared intensity that was often off-putting to their classmates.
He tried not to think about her if he could avoid it. She had broken his heart.
When you were young and in love, you thought it would last forever. He wrongly assumed she would be understanding of his career goals because she had her own but that was more difficult in practice than in theory.
Opposite schedules while doing long distance led to drifting apart. He had been so excited for her to come home for Christmas break too. He hadn't expected to get dumped.
Jacob basically gave up on being in a relationship after that. Whatever dates he did go on were few and far between.