Boys can be awesome. They can be great friends and add a lot of joy to our lives. But, more often than not, college boys can be immature and not very nice. This is a truth that, unfortunately, college girls have to learn the hard way quite often. We like boys who don’t like us back, chase after boys who wouldn’t put any effort into pursuing us or break up with boys who treat us poorly. Sometimes we find out we were being lied to throughout a relationship. Sometimes we fall in love with boys who are wrong for us or just aren’t ready for the seriousness of the relationship. At some point, we go through heartbreak for whatever reason and in whatever form it may come.

Through these hard times, we cry a lot of tears, feel a lot of pain and experience deep hurt, but, in the end, we realize we deserve so much more than what those boys had been giving us. We come to know that we are powerful, strong and deserve only the truest love and support from a relationship. We learn that we don’t need to settle and that we have the strength to get through hardships and heartbreaks that we never even saw coming. When we experience heartbreak and see the true colors of the boys we thought we wanted, we come to know ourselves better. We realize what is actually important in our lives, and it most certainly has nothing to do with a boy right now.

The sooner we stop putting boys as the center of our attention and happiness, the happier we will actually be. We have plenty of time in our lives to fall in love, so why waste our precious college years stressing about boys who truly don’t deserve us and aren’t mature enough for us yet? (Disclaimer: not all boys in college are immature or mean. Some are great and we truly appreciate you, great guys. But, a lot of boys are not great. This is for them.)

Here are eight of the things that are definitely more important than boys:

1. Your future

Have you ever thought about how young you are? Your future is so incredibly open, unpredictable, exciting and full of possibilities! You could move to a new city, state or country. You could land your dream job. You could find those true friends who will be there for you no matter what. You could open your own business. You could impact children’s lives. You will have so many great things happening to you in the future.

2. Your present

Right now is all you have. Yesterday is gone, and you couldn’t predict tomorrow if you tried. You have so much joy and love surrounding you every day. Your friends, roommates, family, professors, coworkers, classmates and everyone who plays a part in your life right now is who is supposed to be in your life right now. Who cares what might happen down the road. It’ll come when it’s time.

3. Your faith

Your faith is literally the only thing you have that will never change. Friends change, cities change, passions change, but God is constant. He is the only one we are guaranteed to have by our side throughout our entire lives. He is the only one who can bring true love and joy to us. Why would we ever want to place a dumb boy above Him?

4. Your best friend(s)

Your best friend is in your life for a very important reason. She needs you and you need her. 20 years from now, you’ll regret missing out on times with her to focus on a boy. Your best friend knows you, she knows what makes you happy and she knows exactly what to say to help you figure out the difficult things in life. Hold onto her as tightly as you can for as long as you can.

5. Your family

Your family loves you more than you could ever realize. Whether they are your family members by blood or by friendship, they will always have your back. There may come a time when you can no longer be with your family, so cherish the time that you do have now.

6. What makes you feel alive

Your passions— art, music, nature, faith, writing, dancing, reading, sports, service, coffee. So many hobbies and talents and interests can change your life for the better if you start to devote yourself to them more often. Find what makes you happy to be alive and chase after it.

7. Your health

Running, walking, hiking, hopping, skipping, kayaking— whatever it is that makes you active, do more of it. If your mental health and physical health are not as good as they could be, other areas in your life will start feeling worse, too. Your health is so much more important than whatever false love an immature boy could offer you.

8. Your relationship with yourself

No matter how cute a boy is, he will never be able to make you happy or peaceful. The second we start loving a boy more than ourselves is the exact second we start losing ourselves. So, get to know yourself again. Realize how amazing you are. Remind yourself that you’re doing just fine.

Now, what was that boy’s name again? Can’t remember? Good.