Twenty is an age where when people ask if you’re excited about turning another year older, you kind of offer an “eh” as a response. At least that’s how I felt when I turned twenty this past weekend. It's an age where you’re just one year shy of legally drinking, while the responsibilities of being an adult keep piling on, and you find that the answer to every question is somehow always

But upon turning twenty, I let myself reflect on two decades worth of living...with mistakes, experiences, and people tucked in between it all. Here's what I've gathered.

1. It is never, ever, ever, a bad thing to put yourself first.

2. There’s a difference between people who watch you go through hard times and people who help pull you out of them.

3. Don’t let what other people say or think about you define who you are, take the things that make you different and wear them with pride.

4. Display humility, that’s how you learn.

5. Keeping an open mind will allow for better experiences in the long run.

6. "Life is short" is an overused but exceedingly true statement. Life is too short to always be waiting for the right moment, to drink crappy coffee, to settle because you're afraid to risk it.

7. Love will mess you up. Big time. Let it.

8. I seriously guarantee that most if not all of your life is based on your attitude towards it. A bad attitude is just going to make a bad day even harder to get through.

9. If you’re in college, you (hopefully) know what your major is. Make sure it’s something you’re passionate about, because if you walk through life passionless, especially your college years, you’ll end up with regrets and no fun stories to tell.

10. Travel often. And when I say travel, I don't necessarily mean a 5 star resort vacation on some island halfway across the world. Any change of scenery can be good for the soul.

11. What your mom says is actually always right. It's scary, but it's the truth.

12. At the end of the day, you're the writer of your own life, why not make it one hell of a story?