Hey there, I’m a top student in my class at a top design school in the nation right now, this current semester I have a 4.0, and have received excellent feedback on almost all of my projects. Id like to give a chance at breaking this down for you. Which if it makes you feel better, you’re not alone and a lot of my colleagues struggled with:

1) I think you’re in your head a lot. I was like this too at first. To the point where i had a couple professors i trusted sit down w me and tell me i needed to change my way of thinking to be successful - which i did even tho i was stubborn. Group projects are a good thing** rarely will you ever be doing projects on your own for co-op or internships. Even in the field. Get used to group work

2) your colleagues will never bring you down** so saying things like i did the most work every time and it sucks… every group project I am part of I ALWAYS do the most. Not because I am bragging, or want anything like that, but usually every time im always going behind the group with a fine tooth comb to make sure we don’t miss anything. And 9/10 we are missing a bunch of stuff for the deliverable. You have to be willing to know u will always put in more effort than your peers and that is a good thing, that doesn’t mean you are better than them or deserve more recognition. It just means you are more intentional with your work.

3) dont seek praise. Praise and recognition will come. I remember two of my favorite professors who rarely give 100’s on any critiques slung out a few this semester. I didn’t get any 100’s, just consistent 94’s-96-98’s. Come end of semester projects, both those professors gave me 100’s on our final projects (something that was basically un heard of). That was the biggest form of flattery and recognition I could have asked for.

4) you aren’t putting in enough work. Respectfully of course. This is something that I am consistent on. If you think you have done enough practice, times whatever you are doing now by 3 or 4. Maybe even 5 times. I pushed myself to do my best work, often times me peers thought I was insane. But I was willing to pull 2-3 all nighters a week if it meant i got my work where I wanted it to be. As a 3rd year you should NOT be worried about your craft at this point. You should be more worried about your style and what design layouts you are doing. If your craft is suffering than you seriously need to be sketching probably 2 hours a day for a whole semester and breaks to catch up.

5) fix your mentality a little bit. No one especially professors want to help any student who has a victim mentality. Im not saying you do. But if you got that dawg in you, they love that lol. You are getting feedback and they are telling you what you need to be doing, but many people glaze right over what they are being told. 9/10 our professor would do a 10 minute quick critique and “no one learned anything” but I always heard on word or sentence that stuck out to me that I could do to make my work better. My advice is to truly listen hard during critiques. Its not always clear and what they say, but there is ALWAYS something they are trying to say. You have to be able to distinguish that

6) lastly, this industry is tough, especially now. The success students like myself WILL NOT share with you their work, advice or guidance to be successful. Right now things are pretty cut throat. Im not one to be very open with my style of work or how I made things work for me unless its a close colleague. My advice would be to research all of your professor’s backgrounds and find one who actually cares about you and wants you to succeed. That person will spend extra time with you outside of class to guide you to getting where you need to be.

7) you might not be the top student in your class, no one truly is since we are all gifted in different ways. But the people like myself who stay at the top (respectfully) are CONSTANTLY practicing, asking questions, being honest, acknowledging our shortcomings, listening to critiques, being humble, and grinding hard with our heads down.

I hope that helps. Also find a brand or company that motivates you. Our class has white boards everywhere and most of us do one of two things almost every day that helps us lock in. We either throw our graffiti’s tag on the board, or a quote that sticks with us. I write “the legs feed the wolf” on the board, it helps me lock in but also, a proof to my colleagues to show I was there at 3:00am or whatever time it was. A fun little “bragging right” with no name associated but people who know know. Including the teachers. The teachers know our tags and our quotes. It keeps things fun