1. We put 100% of ourselves into everything we do. That includes relationships. If we’re in a relationship with you, we’re going to make damn sure that we give it our all.

2. We aren’t used to the feeling of not being in control, especially with our emotions. We’re used to keeping everything in check, so when you come in and turn that all upside down, we might be thrown off for a little while. Bear with us.

3. We might have a hard time admitting when we need you. Up until now, we’ve been used to depending on ourselves for everything we need. We aren’t used to asking for help. Try and pay close attention, because we might be telling you we need you without even realizing it ourselves.

4. Other people like to call us bossy or aggressive or pushy, instead of ambitious or bold or motivated. This frustrates us beyond belief. Make sure you know the difference.

5. We won’t apologize for being smart or successful. We don’t dumb ourselves down or keep quiet just because we’re afraid of coming off as too intimidating or intelligent. If you’re comfortable enough with yourself to let us be ourselves, we’ll love you all the more for it.

6. Don’t ever make us choose between you and our career, or you and our friends, or you and our independence. Because if you’re making us choose in the first place, we’re not going to choose you.

7. We’re going to challenge you. We’re going to expect the best from you and we want you to expect the best from us. We want to inspire you to get better every day and we want you to do the same for us. Relationships are supposed to add to your life, not take away from it. That’s what we’re looking for.

8. We’ll probably ask a lot of questions. We’re curious by nature, and we love learning new things. We want to know your opinion on this and why you feel this way about that issue. They aren’t loaded questions. There’s no right or wrong answer. We just want to know you and how your brain works.

9. It means the world to us when you make an effort to learn about our passions or what we do or what our goals are. Our dreams and aspirations are such a large part of who we are, so the fact that you want to hear about them is just one more way that we know we are with the right person.

10. We’re afraid of being hurt. We’re afraid of letting go and just trusting. We’re afraid of feeling too much. But we aren’t afraid of having standards. Or of holding you to them. We aren’t afraid of trying. We aren’t afraid of opening up. We aren’t afraid of making an effort. We’re going to be scared, but we won’t let that stop us from trying to make it work with you.

11. Sometimes, we can be stubborn. Very, very stubborn. And we may just need you to tell us when we’re being stubborn. At first we won’t listen. But eventually, we’ll begrudgingly apologize.

12. Being ambitious doesn’t mean we hate romance. It doesn’t mean we don’t like surprises or going on dates or spending the day in bed together. We can juggle a lot of balls in the air at once, trust us.

13. Being ambitious and having a good time are not mutually exclusive things. True, we are very hard-working and determined. But we also love to laugh and goof around and have fun. And we want to be with someone who reminds us how important it is to let loose and relax.

14. Some people can confuse being ambitious with being high-strung and high maintenance. But that’s not the case. We don’t need to have a perfectly mapped-out evening every time we are together. Going out and trying new things is great, but we can have just as much fun sitting on the couch with you all night and watching funny movies.

15. Try to figure out very quickly the best way to calm us down. Because we can get worked up and overly excited in a very short amount of time.

16. When we snap at you, it’s probably because we’re stressed out or we haven’t slept. We usually feel like we’re being pulled in 17 different directions, and sometimes we take it out on other people. It’s okay to sit us down and talk some sense into us. Don’t let us get away with taking it out on you.

17. We can’t promise that this will be a cake walk or that being with us will always be a picnic. But we can promise we will give this relationship our all and do everything we can to make you happy. And that’s all we want from you in return.