In any college major, there is always one looming threat between students and their chosen dream: imposter syndrome. This term has been floating around and creating quite a storm in college circles for the past few years. Loosely, imposter syndrome simply refers to doubting one’s capabilities or feeling like a fraud. For me, the idea hits close to home since I suffered with imposter syndrome throughout most of my college career.
When I started college, I thought I was the best in everything academics-related. From getting a perfect GPA in high school, to having an ACT score in the 99th percentile, to being the valedictorian of my graduating class, I thought I was the best student possible. However, college was harder than anticipated, and I started wondering if I was as smart as everyone thought I was. To this day, I still remember the feeling that I got when I saw my first B on a transcript, and I still remember the first thought that popped into my head: “Was that really the best you could do?”
I completely disregarded the fact that my first B came from an unprecedented time in history—the COVID-19 pandemic—which caused nearly half of high school and middle school students in East St. Louis school districts to fail two or more classes, according to KMOV4. This rate is over double the normal failure rate of this school district. I completely disregarded my hard work and dedication that I had put into all of my classes once they were moved online and my workload effectively tripled. All I could think about was the fact that my GPA was no longer perfect, and I felt like a fraud.
However, I have learned from that experience, and I have realized that failing (or your idea of failing) is an opportunity to learn and become who you aspire to be. Here are five ways in which I defeated imposter syndrome (and how you can too).
1. Recognize the difficulty of your courses.
No matter what major you are in, there are difficult classes, and there are classes that everyone will struggle with. Reminding yourself that college is hard, and that is why you decided to go, is a great motivator to keep going forward. I always have to remind myself that classes are meant to be hard because college is preparing you for the future and for a career. Keep in mind that if there is a curve in the class, there is a reason for it. There is no reason to beat yourself up because you did not get a solid 95 percent in a class that has a curve set to 85 percent as the minimum for an A. Trust me, I have been there and it is not a good place to be.
2. Extend grace toward yourself.
Believe it or not, there are people in the world who do not constantly ridicule themselves when they fail a test. What a concept, right? I had to get into the mindset that not doing well on a test did not equal failure. The main point of extending grace to yourself is to remind yourself that you did your best. Maybe you did not realize that studying for three hours was not enough to pass the chemistry exam. Everyone has been there and made the same mistake (ask any pre-med class). Next time you will study more, but right now, you need to extend grace to yourself, remember that this is a new class (regardless of your year in college) and tell yourself that you will prepare better next time.
3. Do self-affirmations—and believe them!
I started doing self-affirmations in high school. At first, I thought they would be a way to improve my confidence, but I quickly realized that they were doing something much more than that. Affirmations, when believed, change the trajectory of your mind and place you in a position of victory instead of defeat. Speaking to yourself in the mirror everyday as a reminder of the trials you have overcome and the faith you have in yourself is a game changer when it comes to imposter syndrome. The entirety of imposter syndrome comes from the insecurity that you were never enough. Instead of accepting that, look in the mirror and tell the tired person staring back at you that they are always enough and will always find a way to achieve greatness.
4. Separate emotion from fact.
The real challenge of overcoming imposter syndrome is separating facts from your thoughts. When I received my grade in organic chemistry last semester, I felt like a failure and was angry that all my hard work did not culminate to the exact grade that I wanted. However, the fact of the situation was that I received an A minus in the class that is notorious for weeding out pre-meds and has a fail rate approaching 50 percent nationally. The point of this story is not to make myself seem amazing, but to put a perspective on how you view yourself versus how you actually fit into statistics. If you are focused on your emotions, you will miss the fact that sometimes the things you view as setbacks are actually huge advances for yourself. You may feel like a failure, but in fact, you are a champion.
5. Realize that you are not perfect.
It may be a surprise to every overachiever in the world, but you are not, and will not ever be, perfect. There is no such thing as having the perfect résumé or the perfect application to graduate school. We are all human, and we are entitled to make mistakes and mess up sometimes. In fact, some would argue that those mess-ups are what makes humans amazing. I had to realize that not every class would be easy, and I would not be perfectly suited for every class that I had to take, even the classes in my major. But upon realizing that I was not perfect, I felt a sudden weight lifted from my shoulders. I have realized through my struggle with imposter syndrome that accepting your imperfections makes you stronger as a person and helps you achieve your goals that much more.
Thinking about the pressure that I used to place on myself to be perfect makes me cringe. There is no way that any person can handle that kind of pressure. I have realized that messing up, and maybe even failing, does not mean that I am a fraud or not good enough. These setbacks merely mean that I have to be more persevering going forward, and that is not a bad quality to have.