Will, because cooking is a technical skill, you need to practice, practice, and practice some more. You don't need foie gras, colorado lamb, osetra caviar, and truffles to make a great meal. You do need to practice doing the basic things first (i.e. making a great tomato sauce, pastas, vinaigrettes, omelettes, pot roast, etc.), using ingredients that you can afford on a college student's budget (I was there only 6 years ago so I can feel your pain). Can you turn basic ingredients into a dish that tastes good? If it didn't turn out right the first time, what did you learn from it that will help you the next time. Just because it didn't come out right doesn't mean that it's a bad dish, it might just need more fine tuning. I can tell someone until I'm blue in the face on how to make, say a beurre blanc. But until they practice it, they won't know exactly how much of the liquid needs to be reduced, how much butter should be added at certain times, what the cooking temperature needs to be, etc. The only way anyone can ever, EVER learn how to cook better is to practice, experiment, and learn. But don't get discouraged, because to be honest, some people just aren't born to be great cooks/chefs. It's like art or music. Give 50 people a paper and pencil, and tell them to draw a tree, and you'll most likely get 50 nondescript looking trees. But you give that same pencil and paper to Picasso or Van Gough, you have a work of art. Cooking is a skill that can be honed, practiced, and improved on, but the bottom line is that some people just have the touch, and most others don't. For instance, I can tell you what will go well together and what won't, without even tasting the dish because I just know. The more you cook and the more you taste, and you'll be on your way.