It’s approaching finals season. That wonderful season full of long nights of studying and trying to recall when it was you last showered. It’s during these times that I have noticed students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) getting most discouraged in their fields of study. As such, I want to give some insight gained over four years of my bachelor’s and a year and a half of graduate school in engineering regarding our worth as students, researchers, and lovers of all things science.

Many believe that engineers and scientists are born geniuses—often the awkward and antisocial type. This is true for a few, but definitely not for me. My lack of genius is a hard truth I face every time I fail an exam (and I have failed many exams in engineering school). It’s a hard truth because being a graduate student at UC Berkeley, I work side-by-side with people who are immensely smarter than I am. I now even teach students who are smarter than I am. I am not writing this to gain pity, but rather to encourage the people who may feel similarly—the people who are passionate about a field, but may be are discouraged about pursuing their dreams. I want to convince you that whether you are in the midst of your bachelor’s degree and thinking “Can I do this?” or considering going back to school to start in a different direction, a STEM degree is within reach. It is a mountain you can conquer.

There are three key ingredients to being a successful scientist or engineer. First, you need a passion. In many inspiring cases, these passions consist of grand goals that run deep into the soul—a passion to land on Mars, or to mitigate climate change, or to build earthquake-resistant skyscrapers. While these dreams drive us and keep us moving in the darkest of times, they inspire others to continue in their treks as well.

Second, you need unrelenting motivation. Even as I type this, I recall countless times my motivation has failed me. “Why do I even try? How can I compare to the ‘greats’?” I admit, this is probably the most challenging part for me. One small failure can be magnified in your own mind, especially when comparing yourself to others. Impostor syndrome—the feeling that you don’t belong or somehow made it into your program by mistake—is a problem for many students in college. Maybe, instead, I should say that you need returning motivation. This is where the final key ingredient to success comes into play.

Third, you need strong and supportive peers. Without them, it’s easy to answer those awful questions about your capabilities in negative ways. Without them, you may continue to doubt yourself. Without them, you may forget your own passions. With them, however, you can fly. You are reminded that we all fail exams, we all miss deadlines, and we all make mistakes, especially as we are learning. We, the beautifully ordinary, can be just as accomplished as the next Elon Musk. This is not because we are as intelligent as Elon—at least, most of us aren’t. It’s because we, together, are reaching our potential as a singular force. As we depend on our peers for motivation, so, too, do they depend on us. With this network of drive, we, the ordinary, are taking long strides together.

I will leave you with one final piece of advice: do not compare your progress or position with others. Each person is incredibly different; we have different strengths, different needs, and different ways of studying. There is not one correct way to succeed or to feel fulfilled. Your main focus should be knowing yourself, knowing your goals, and knowing how to keep yourself happy and healthy while walking down your path to success. It also doesn’t hurt to get some sun, exercise, have a regular and consistent sleeping schedule, and have a non-school-related hobby. If you study best by doing practice problems for an hour and then reading Harry Potter for 15 minutes, do that! Having meditation or yoga breaks, eating lunch outside, watching a short show with a couple classmates, having a laugh—these things may seem simple, but they have an incredible impact on your strength and motivation as a student.

Wherever you are in your life, whatever midterm you’re about to take, remember that you are not alone. Not every inventor is young. Not every expert is old. Not every scientist or engineer is a genius. This world is diverse and so are the innovators. The peer you motivate tomorrow after he bombs an assignment could be a future inventor, space traveler, or climate change analyst. We are in this world together and we change it together, one failed or aced exam at a time.