So get this, it’s around the time in the semester where things are picking up and you start falling behind in your classes. You’re sleeping less and less, you have more problem sets and quizzes to study for, and your GE teacher starts assigning essay’s left and right. All your friends around you seem to be having fun and hanging out while you barely even have time to eat dinner because you have that club meeting you have to go to. And then your friends start gossiping: “Omg, did you here ‘such and such’ got a internship with ‘the company you really want to work at’?”. In that instance, you feel awful because your working so hard but it seems that people around you are blooming without you.
Trust me, we’ve all been there. Trust me. Like, everyone has been in these shoes. It’s hard recognizing this at first, but one of the biggest challenges students don’t realize they face in college is imposter syndrome.
One common cause of imposter syndrome is hearing about how very specific people do amazing things. “Did you hear **** got an internship at ******?”. “Did you hear ****** got a research scholarship for ******?”. Yes, some people do amazing things, but you are capable of doing these things too! Maybe it’ll be next summer, or maybe it’ll happen when you graduate. Everyone is on a different path, and comparing yourself to other people will only hinder your confidence and performance.
If you seem to be struggling with this, please don’t let it get to your head! Many people in college feel inadequate and less than, and the best way to feel better about yourself is to talk to people. Not everyone is doing as amazing as they seem. Many people put up a facade of happiness and organization, when in reality they might be struggling even more than you are. Many people go through the same things you struggle with, and realizing that everyone else is in the same boat makes it a bit easier :).
