Any guess what Lady Gaga, Albert Einstein, Awkwafia, and Tom Hanks all have in common? They have all confessed at some time in their lives that they felt like imposters. In an HBO special Lady Gaga reflected that,
“I will sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school and I just have to pick myself up and tell myself that I’m a superstar every morning so that I can get through this day and be for my fans what they need for me to be.”
In an oft-quoted comment that came only a month before he died at age 76, Einstein wrote to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium saying that “the exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”
Though I try not to wish doubt upon anyone, reading this made me feel a bit better. When I arrived on campus I had this sense that everyone else knew what was going on. Everyone else was more ready than me. That at any moment the professor or some other smarter student sitting across the class was going to look over at me and say “dude, why are you here? You can’t handle this! Who made the mistake of letting you into college?!”
This feeling is often referred to as Imposter Syndrome and it is more common than you might think. As a blog dedicated to helping you become successful in college and especially with your reading, we’re looking at how you set-up your world to get ready for college reading. One of the things you need to set up is to do some honest personal assessment about your thoughts and feelings. Let’s get started.
Who’s an Imposter?
First of all, what is this “Impostor” thing about? Imposter Syndrome or Imposter Phenomenon is,
“the persistent belief that you don’t deserve your success, your accomplishments are a fluke, and the people around you are more qualified or competent than you.” (Embry 2022)
“Impostor Phenomenon is a psychological pattern whereby an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a fear of being exposed as a fraud.” (Williams 2021)
You should also know that while this Imposter Phenomenon is not a mental health or medical diagnosis, it is very real and experienced by around 70% of the general population. It is higher among folks who are in academic settings and is even higher among students of color, first generation students, and women in science and technology fields.
Handling our Inner Imposter
Finally, and most importantly, there are things you can do about it. Try out some of these strategies suggested by Williams and Embry as you get the state-of-mind to head into college:
- Connect with campus counseling or academic centers. Staff here talk with students about these feelings all the time! They also have great resources for helping you move beyond these fears.
- Remember that your mind is connected to all the other parts of your life. Invest in good sleep, eating well, taking your medication, connecting with others, getting some exercise, and doing something fun.
- Seek out trusted individuals who you can share these feelings with. Think about: coaches, therapists, friends, student groups, faith leaders, friends at work, mentors, or teachers you trust.
- Seek consistent feedback on your performance that includes recognizing your strengths
- Practice meditation, mindfulness and journaling
- Accept that some tasks will not be done perfectly and that this is what learning is about. “Not getting it” is the first step in learning something new!
- Review and reward yourself for progress. Overlooking success and focusing on even small mistakes feeds the imposter. Celebrating success at the end of a term or big exam is a way to remind you that you ARE succeeding.
In addition to these suggestions and reflections, here are seven more that I’ll add. Some of them are good hints. Others just make me feel better.
- I’m not the only one – I try to remember that I’m not the only one facing it. When I look around a classroom, I remember that most everyone here is feeling the same thing. For me, this holds some community building power. It leads me to be gracious toward others in the class and brave in asking the question that everyone is thinking (but are also afraid to ask for fear of being labeled an imposter)!
- Professors too – By the way…this imposter feeling is not just for students. Professors feel it too, just at a different level. Where students are anxious about feeling like they don’t have what it takes to do the reading or write that paper, professors are anxious about getting a paper published, getting good teaching reviews, and impressing their department chair or the academic dean.
- Imposter = success? Paradoxically, this Imposter Phenomenon that can make you think that you can’t be a success in college tends to strike those who, because of high achievement personality traits, have the drive and skills to do very well in college?! So, if you find yourself feeling like an imposter, you may be among the most prepared to do well in college. Weird, I know.
- Manage don’t Conquer – My personal experience is that imposter syndrome is not something we conquer like quitting smoking or having an appendix removed. It’s more about managing the struggle like a recovering alcoholic or eating less fast-food. As we face new challenges, more difficult readings and projects, advanced concepts and more complicated skills, most of us may well return to a sense of “now they’ll discover that I can’t do this!” It’s important to think of this mental challenge as one that is never completed. We just get better at recognizing it, responding to it in healthy and effective ways, and moving forward.
- Use your strengths and skills – to help you move through the challenge. Say you’re in a nursing program and are really nervous about learning how to place a central IV line. You’re convinced that you’re the only one who is going to foul it up and that you get really nervous when everyone is watching you. But you also know about yourself that lots of practice and preparation makes you more comfortable about everything you do. So…before going to class, find a way to practice, all by yourself, a lot. Maybe not on your roommate or your cat, but on an orange or grapefruit. If you know that solitary preparation makes you more comfortable in front of a group, use that.
- Just do it – some folks who get caught in the imposer trap have strong perfectionistic tendencies that can keep us from taking the next step until we think all the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Unfortunately, that perfect preparation rarely happens. Rather than wait forever, get things as lined up as possible, then go.
- Ease into the adventure – Rather than quitting your job and going to college full time, just take a class to test things out. See what works and what doesn’t. Get a feel for the academic world. Try out new reading and notetaking strategies. See how class time fits into your life. Afterwards, stand back and ask yourself how it felt. How did you deal with your imposter threats?
Setting up your state of mind is about both being honest with yourself about yourself, and being willing to connect with others and share what you’re experiencing. If you’d like a bit more support with these Imposter feelings, hop over to www.gutsycollege.com and download the free workbook that accompanies this blog. It contains a tool to help you clearly think through your biggest Imposter challenges and how to deal with them.
Once you begin to see that others are probably feeling the same way and that this is preventing you from doing something you may not be perfect at, you can give yourself and others the grace to just do your best, and discover it is more than enough to succeed. Use the strategies found here and know that you are more than good enough to be a success in college. Yes, you can do this!
Reading in college is hard. Hundreds of pages coming at you from textbooks and academic articles to literary classics and lab reports. If only someone who knows the academic world could explain how to not just manage but learn to love your college reading!
Dr. Matt’s Gutsy Guide to Reading in College takes you step-by-step, through how to succeed with your college reading. This guide is packed with strategies for creating your perfect reading spot, setting up your tech, managing your routine, learning what to watch for in your reading, discovering your favorite note-taking style, and much more! Hop over to www.gutsycollege.com to check out the book and Gutsy online classes.
Dr. Matt Friesen received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Oregon and has spent most of life as a student, professor, researcher and advisor. Check out www.gutsycollege.com for the free Workbook for Reading in College and Note Taking Template.
Noah Friesen’s artwork is featured in these blog posts. Noah has been drawing since 2003 and specializes in caricature and comic art. Connect with Noah, check out his gallery or commission him for your project at www.ko-fi.com/idekdraws.
