Sometimes, we wonder why or how we ended up here. Doubt can lead us to forget how we arrived at our current destination. We need to ask ourselves how we can end this doubt and start to enjoy the fruits of our labor. 

This doubt is known as Imposter syndrome, the psychological experience of feeling like a fake or a phony despite any genuine success that you have achieved. For students facing imposter syndrome, this can lead to failing classes or isolating themselves because they feel they don’t belong. The effects of this experience can even last until after graduation. This makes us lose our focus, and it also makes us deviate from our goals. 

Walking into a new place is always scary. You never know what to expect, but you know that it is where you belong. But through the eyes of someone with impostor syndrome, this thought slowly becomes a doubt as we ask ourselves “Do we belong where we are at?”

Despite it not having a formal diagnosis, we tend to fight it by ourselves. It is important to note that resources exist and should be used by students who are struggling.  I realized that although some doubts fade with time, this one is different. This one follows you around, like a shadow right behind you. It goes with you wherever you go, with every new thing you accomplish and every new person you meet. As college students the feeling that we don’t belong is bound to happen, we get lost in everything around us. 

According to a 2020 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute, Imposter syndrome is common, at high rates of  56% to 82% in graduate students, college students, nurses, medical students and other professions. This goes to show its existence despite the lack of a formal diagnosis. 

This will have a lasting effect on us because if we don’t socialize we’ll miss out on a potentially big part of our college life. These aren’t the only connections we can make. Certain connections could help us further our career, whether it be professors, a friend with similar career goals or someone you met at a networking event. Because of impostor syndrome college students alike miss out on all of these opportunities, which just gives the impostor syndrome more energy to drain. 

For me, I experienced imposter syndrome a lot in my last two years of community college- specifically at the beginning of my journey at my community college’s newspaper: Southwestern College’s “The Sun.” At that point, I had never experienced working for a newspaper, so I didn’t have any idea of what I needed to do in that class, and I felt lost. I saw my classmates, and they looked more enthusiastic about the class. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do the tasks that were given to me. This was a completely different game. I had never been in an environment like that- I felt like a fish out of water. As the semester passed, I realized that I was doing the assignments, reporting the stories, and most importantly, writing them myself. Granted at first, it wasn’t great, but eventually, I got the hang of it.

Part of the struggle with these feelings is that they can come and go. Sometimes, we can be aware of these negative emotions, and other times, these thoughts creep up on us. For example, we could be in class and question if our classmates are more popular than us, or ahead of us academically.

We can start by talking to a professional, our friends, siblings or family. These are the people who will hear us out and most importantly give us a safe space to talk.

Make a list of what you doubt yourself about. After, make a list of all your accomplishments and all the things you are good at. This will help you see everything you’ve done and everything you’ve accomplished, and doing so will slowly remove those blistering doubts. 

Stop comparing yourself to others. Be aware of social media, because what you see on there is just a filter, and you don’t have access to other people’s full picture. 

If you see someone that’s in your shoes, approach them and ask them how they are. By helping others who face impostor syndrome, you can gain a new friend and supporter. 

It’s important to remember: that everything takes time, so join the clubs you’re interested in and go to the events you want to be a part of. I know it may be intimidating, but you never know what’s on the other side of the door. Once you do this, Imposter syndrome will be the afterthought while you acknowledge all your achievements and challenges you’ve gone through to get where you are.

So do I/We belong here (at SDSU)? Yes.