1. You will always envy others.

Jealously is a natural part of being a human. We get jealous of others success, someone finding their dream job straight out of college, others relationships, and other’s lives in general. That doesn’t mean you should compare where you are to someone else though. It’s become natural to compare the snapshots of your life to someone else’s through the Internet. But instead of getting jealous try to turn that feeling into something positive. If travel is something you want to do after college, then follow all the travel blogs you want! Just aim to turn that envy into motivation to find a way to make your own life of travel.

2. Take the time to do what you love.

If art is your passion, go after it. DO NOT worry about what other people think of what you’re doing. Don’t listen to people tell you “you won’t make it” or “there’s no future in that field.” Go after it. The reality of it is, people might say something negative about it, but they really don’t care what you’re doing. (And if you do care about ragging on someone for doing something they love, you need to reevaluate your life ASAP and figure out what makes you happy.)

3. You don’t have to be good at everything.

Seriously, you don’t. But just because you might not be good at everything doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try everything. If you have a slight interest in it, why not give it a try? I tried yoga, I’m not good at it, but I still enjoy it. If you stick with something you might not be good at, it might turn into one of your strengths down the road.

4. Take pride in your work.

I write for my college newspaper, which comes out every Thursday. At work I always grab a copy and read it with my boss. He turned to me one day and said, “You’re really proud of that aren’t you?” Damn right I am. If I’m not proud of my own work, how can I expect anyone else to be? Never be ashamed of your work.

5. You don’t need a lot of friends to make you feel happy.

My friend group has drastically dwindled from my beginning of my college career, but that’s because you figure out who you’re really friends with. You have the friends you go out with and then the friends who you spend the next day lounging around hung-over with. Those are the people you can turn to at the end of a long day. Those are the people who have your back when times get tough. Those are the people you want to keep around.

6. Cherish constructive criticism.

Take every single piece of constructive criticism (as long as the person isn’t just being an asshole) and use it to become better. If someone is willing to help you, THANK THEM! Seriously, thank them because in the future everyone won’t always offer you feedback. Some people don’t care if you succeed or not, so don’t quit because you didn’t hear what you wanted to. Use that as fuel to keep chugging along towards your ultimate goals; it will only make you better.

7. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Because most of it is just small stuff. Things we let ourselves get worked up over don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Missing a night out with your friends for work or missing an assignment isn’t the end of the world; as long as it is not repetitive you will be fine.

8. People don’t care what you’re doing.

It took me a little while longer to realize this, but it’s almost naïve to think people really care about what you’re doing. Unless you’re a celebrity people aren’t generally keeping tabs on you and constantly talking about you. If you have a successful moment they might congratulate you, but people are trying to figure their owns lives out at the same time.

9. No one can make you happy beside yourself.

Happiness is in internal thing, if you are not happy with your self and your life you cannot expect to be happy with someone else. Relationships are supposed to enhance our lives, not make up happy. So don’t strive to find someone in college to fix you, don’t stay with someone because you’re worried you’ll end up alone. You still have your whole life ahead of you so focus on yourself first.

10. Persistence.

If you want something bad enough keep working for it, no matter how many times you might get rejected, not hear back or be told you’re not good enough. If you are willing to put in the time and effort the results you want will come. You just have to be dedicated to achieving it.

11. Be the best version of yourself you can be.

You learn a lot about yourself in college through living on your own for the first time, moving away from home, paying your own bills and supporting yourself. Through all of the good and bad there are plenty of lessons to be learned. Take each of those times and figure out who you are, and be the best version of your self you can be. It will only help you in the long run.