I am sure most of us have experienced imposter syndrome, especially if you consider yourself a perfectionist in some form or another. If you’re not familiar with the concept, imposter syndrome is characterized by “chronic feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, and fraudulence despite objective success. It’s hard to internalize success and genuinely hold the belief that you’re competent and capable” (psycom). When we have these feelings, it can be really easy to count yourself out and potentially miss out on really amazing opportunities.
I have definitely had my fair share of encounters with feeling like an imposter. Whenever I apply for something and I’m accepted the first thought in my head is, “they must’ve made a mistake”, “this was a pitty acceptance”, or “I am taking up the space of someone more deserving”. And when I’m denied, this feeling of being incompetent is reaffirmed. This feeling has followed me to my classrooms, jobs, and internships. However, once I realized these thoughts were, in fact, just thoughts— they became a lot less reoccurring.
It is very possible that whenever you enter a new stage of your life (especially one with higher stakes) that you will experience imposter syndrome. But, there certainly are ways to offset these (sometimes over-bearing) thoughts. Here are some tips that have really helped me:
- question that thought- think back another times in your life where you had an overwhelming feeling that you for sure would mess something up. Were those thoughts accurate? Probably not!
- reframe your thinking- let’s say you get accepted for a program and you’re the youngest one there. Instead of letting this fact scare you, reframe it so that it is empowering. If you’re the youngest one there then it must mean that your work is really impressive– you have nothing to worry about!
- Celebrate your victories- even if they’re small (objectively!). For example, if you’ve developed a skill that you thought would be impossible to achieve– congratulate yourself!
Most importantly, be kind to yourself. College is super stressful and it’s easy to get caught up in what we’re not good at versus what we are.
Remember– imposters aren’t scared of being imposters.