Being 20 is awkward. If you thought middle school was a weird time in your life just wait until junior year when you’re stuck in between foam parties and perfecting your resume and you have no idea which way is up. I refer to this lovely experience as “second puberty”; you’re finding yourself, what you want to do for the rest of your life and your ultimate direction. So of course along with this second puberty comes a lot of the same painfully awkward feeling as the first one. You’re worried about how to deal with the opposite sex, how to behave in the real world, and if you’ll ever figure out what a good cover letter looks like; in short, you’re questioning yourself.

Self-confidence is hard to come by in college. Sure you’ll meet cocky frat guys and girls who know their way around an Urban Decay Naked Palette and get 4,000 likes on Instagram but when you get down to the nitty-gritty we’re all floundering in the same self-doubt and uncertainty. I’m here to tell you now that is our biggest mistake. We’d get a lot more done, and be having a much better time if we all just unapologetically decided to believe in ourselves.

I think the biggest thing I have going for me is that I have always believed I’ve had a lot going for me, even when in reality that might have been the farthest thing from the truth. I don’t think many people realized what a powerful asset it can be just to truly believe you’re capable of whatever you set your mind to as cheesy as it sounds. There are plenty of times where I can look back and be like “wow, nobody was really pulling for me on that one”, but I was, so I got the job done and I did it well. You’re never going to accomplish something if you don’t believe you can. Why would you even start if you think it’s futile?

You know yourself better than anyone else on this planet and when you feel like you really have no clue where you’re going that can be a daunting idea. My Psychic literally told me over winter break I needed to “figure some stuff out”, like thank you, that is totally why I came to a psychic to be told I know nothing …but I digress, at this point in our lives we may feel like we’re at an impasse with what we think is right and what society is telling us to do but deep down only you can know what will make you truly happy. You just need to trust yourself to listen to that voice and that you are capable of accomplishing what it takes to get there.

The moral of this story is not only to be comfortable in your own skin, but also to be proud to be that person. Trying to be somebody else in the long run will do nothing but waste your time. When you are doing what seems right to you and trusting that feeling is when you really start to grow out of that second awkward phase.