“Nice guys finish last,” “Girls like the bad boys,” and countless other stereotypes have been ingrained into the male population’s minds for decades, creating a stigma attached to guys who are nice by nature that girls don’t want them.

I am here to tell all of you self-proclaimed "nice guys" that those myths are just that—myths.

In my experience, most guys all start off “nice.” I have not happened upon very many 14-year-olds who don’t hold doors for girls or who forget to say "please" and "thank you" to waitresses.

It’s not until a guy finds a girl who does not expect those things that they turn into a subject of a Taylor Swift song.

Throughout high school, girls have a lot to carry on their shoulders. Molding themselves into the stereotypes that the media has perpetuated over the years of a “normal” high school girl, making good grades while being involved in numerous extracurricular activities, and finding a popular boyfriend to ask you to be his valentine or to go to the school dance with are just a few of many unrealistic expectations.

So, by default, many girls will have fairly low standards of how a boy is supposed to treat them because of the incessant need to fit in with everyone else. Because of this, the distinction between the “nice guys” and the other guys is born.

Well, “nice guys,” let me tell you all a secret: Girls don’t want nice guys; they want great guys.

Being nice is too easy. Telling a girl she is pretty is nice. Opening a car door is nice. Great is doing these things without labeling yourself a “nice guy.”

A great guy does the right thing without thinking about how it could potentially further his “nice guy” classification. A great guy has his own principles and standards and does not sacrifice his own beliefs to please a girl. A great guy doesn’t tell one girl she’s pretty but call another girl a slut, because great guys do not judge other people, and they especially don’t judge women.

And ladies, it is OK to date the great guys. The great guys are going to be the ones who remember when you have a dentist appointment and will watch The Bachelorette with you Monday nights. Dating a great guy means he will notice the little things, like when you tell him in passing that you love peonies, and later that day, he shows up with a bouquet of them just because. These guys aren’t “whipped.” These are the guys who get the girls in the end.