I struggled a lot in my first modules, when I was barely passing my classes, and without realising it, I began telling myself that I wasn’t smart enough for the classes I was in, and that my efforts wouldn’t produce the grades I wanted or needed. I was experiencing imposter syndrome: that persistent feeling that I wasn’t smart enough and that, at any moment, I would be exposed as not belonging there. And without knowing it, many of my fellow students were struggling with exactly the same feeling.
And yet here I am, three years later, doing my Master’s in Mechanical Engineering. Have I learned how to overcome imposter syndrome? Maybe, maybe not – but what I have learned, since, is that it’s kind of a rite of passage for every single university student to experience it. The reality is that this feeling of being an outsider is so very common at the university level. So before I share some tips, a gentle reminder: you belong here, and you don't need to prove your worth. You are good enough for your classes, good enough to succeed, and good enough for the people who love you. And now, with the hope that this may be helpful to others, here are some tips that have helped me manage my own feelings of Imposter Syndrome.
1. Breathe in, breathe out
Among us students, the feeling of being an imposter is no stranger. Try to ground yourself and remember that you’re where you’re at because of the fruits of your own labour. Remember to breathe, and remember that your value is not tied to your grades. As a (somewhat) anxious person myself, it’s good to repeat this mantra to myself when the voices start getting louder, when the negative thoughts take over.
2. Try not to compare yourself with others
Speaking of anxiety, remind yourself that anxiety is greedy. It devours yesterday’s reassurances and demands today’s. And tomorrow it will ask for it again. It’s hard to not compare yourself to others. Especially in a flashy field like engineering, where there are truly some incredible people – geniuses, even – in your classes, in your projects, and you just can’t wrap your head around the fact that you’re at the same level as them. But you can also look at it the other way – you are, in fact, on the same level as them! You deserve to be here, and there’s no competition to win. Students come from all kinds of backgrounds, and not everyone has had the same life experiences or privileges. Yet we’ve all made it here, and that, I believe, is something worth celebrating.
3. Remember that the people you look up to have it too!
Something that really helped me was my supervisor (multiple of them, actually, but I’m speaking of one in particular) telling me that he had imposter syndrome too, even after a long, tenured career decorated by multiple journal articles and conference presentations. At its core, imposter syndrome doesn’t mean much. It can show up in anyone, at any time, regardless of where someone is in their career.
4. Take a break from work
While you might think that studying is the priority, things are rarely ever that serious. The priority, in fact, is you. If you realise that the familiar feelings of imposter syndrome are creeping up again (‘hello darkness, my old friend’), then take a step back, engage in acts of self-care, and don’t let these negative thoughts take over.
5. Fake it ‘til you make it
Probably terrible advice, but advice nonetheless. Push through the feelings of imposter syndrome and do the work anyways. Me, I did it out of spite of myself and my own internalised feelings of me not being good enough. I told myself I was OK, that everything would work out in the end. I came to realise that things did.
6. Say it out loud
For the longest time, I kept these feelings to myself. I assumed that admitting I felt out of place would only confirm it, as if saying the words would make them true. So, I nodded along in lectures, smiled through project meetings, and quietly convinced myself that everyone else had it figured out.
Then, one evening over a late-night Dynamics study session, a friend admitted that he’d been feeling the same way since our very first module. And then another friend chimed in. And then another. It turned out that half the people I’d been subconsciously comparing myself to had been doing the exact same thing to me.
A final thought
I still lose focus in lectures. I still stare at equations that refuse to make sense. And I still open new books with a small knot of doubt in my stomach. The feeling hasn't disappeared. What's changed is how I listen to it.
Back in my first modules, I took every struggle as proof that I wasn't good enough. Now I see the struggles for what they really are: a part of learning something incredibly hard, something that everyone around me was going through, too, even if none of us said so at the time.
If I could tell my first-year self one thing, it would be this: the doubt doesn't mean you're in the wrong place. More often than not, it means you're exactly where you're supposed to be, doing something that challenges you. So, if you're reading this and feeling behind, know that you're not alone, and that you're more capable than that quiet voice would ever have you believe.
