Check out Peer Advisor Abby Guen’s tips on how to counteract impostor syndrome in your academics!
Let’s face it: this semester has been hard. This isn’t what any of us envisioned, and for those of you who are freshmen, this surely isn’t how you envisioned your introduction into college. I hope you’ve fallen into the swing of things with a little over 2 months under your belt, and while the hours staring at a screen may not be getting easier (in fact, they may be getting harder), you have made it this far and that is enough.
Speaking of being enough, let’s talk about something I’ve suffered from all throughout college: academic impostor syndrome. If you’re not familiar with the term, Harvard Business Review defines impostor syndrome as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. As a freshman and sophomore in the Elliott School, I felt this in my classes all the time – why didn’t I know the answers to any of the questions being asked during class? Why did it feel like my comments weren’t as insightful as other students? Was I not spending enough time outside of class reading up on general topics in international affairs? As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that asking such broad questions of myself isn’t productive, and that there are several things I should keep in mind when inadvertently comparing myself to other students. Next time you’re feeling inadequate, think about these things:
You got into GW. You got into the Honors Program. You are more than smart enough to be here. I hope this is a given. You are going to take classes in many different departments while you’re at GW, and there is simply no way you will be well-informed about the subject matter for all of them. You will respond differently to each class’s material, each professor’s teaching style, and what’s going on in your life outside of your classes is constantly changing. Everyone’s definitions of success vary, and if you’re feeling inadequate, consider what you might be struggling with in your life, and how your ability to overcome it is just as important as your performance in school.
Everyone’s brains work differently. This is a big one for me. I had a propensity – especially in my origins classes – to think that if someone said something about a reading that I would never have thought of, it meant that I had missed something big. I also felt like my contributions didn’t sound as insightful as other students. Everyone’s brain processes literature differently, and we each prioritize information in distinct ways. Not seeing all the perspectives right away doesn’t immediately mean you missed something. What is obvious to one person’s brain might not have been obvious to you, and vice versa. It’s likely that someone will hear your contributions and think they was quite insightful, and that they had never thought about it that way. If you’re ever feeling lost in class, I can guarantee that you’re not the only one.
Knowledge does come with age, to an extent. Some people are naturally good at remembering things, or have great confidence speaking in class. Some people may also have a special interest in the subject matter being studied by your class, and therefore their knowledge may in fact be larger than yours (the example that comes to my mind is when I took History of American Foreign Policy as a sophomore and knew almost nothing about the Middle East or US military history, but half the class were ROTC students.) As a senior now, I feel much more confident in my knowledge and my reading abilities then I did even two years ago, when I was still a very capable student. Your knowledge and ability to synthesize information both improve as you move through college, and it is natural for impostor syndrome to feel like a big deal when you’re just starting out. Just know it gets better with time, and keep reminding yourself that you are awesome!
One final thing: remember there are many ways to showcase your capabilities. Class participation can come in form of emailing your professors after class to clarify something or talk about a topic that interested you, or going to office hours. In classes you really love, find ways to go above and beyond what is asked of you. But don’t stress if you’re not ready for any of that. You have time, and if 2020 has taught us anything it’s the importance of taking care of ourselves. You’ve shown resilience just by making it this far in the semester, but if you’re feeling inadequate at any point, your UHP family will always be here to remind you that you’re awesome.
