As the term begins and seminars are still brimming with students (before the cold months and 9am lectures starts scare away half the cohort), you may feel overwhelmed with the intelligence and capabilities of your classmates. Whether you are in your first year or your fourth or even, like me, a postgraduate student, that lingering feeling of imposter syndrome is often difficult to shake.
This is my first year at Edinburgh, and studying for a Masters feels like a massive step, so walking into seminars can be a nerve-racking and vulnerable endeavour. I find myself sitting amongst my peers, listening to the nuances and coherence of seminar discussions, and I can’t help but feel threatened that my contributions are substandard.
Trying to overcome the feeling that you are a few steps behind everyone else or have gaps in your knowledge can be taxing, especially when you are just starting out. For this reason, I wanted to share some top tips for when imposter syndrome hits.
First and foremost, and I know it sounds obvious, but it’s what my friends and family always say: “you got the grades.” You would not have been allowed to study here had you not achieved the grades appropriate to study your chosen subject. I know how hard it is to escape the obsession with comparison these days, but somebody else’s achievements do not discredit your own. Ultimately, it is not a competition, and we have different strengths.
This brings me to my second point: surrounding yourself with intelligent people is highly beneficial for personal growth and progression. It’s like the famous Confucius quote, “if you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” At the University of Edinburgh, we have a diverse international student population and a rich student body, which provides unique perspectives and learning opportunities. It’s difficult to shift the narrative, but instead of feeling overwhelmed by your knowledge gaps, try to fill them with fresh insights.
On a final note, I have found that when discussing my fears about imposter syndrome with friends on my course, most of them share similar concerns. When I hear that my friends feel the same way, it is difficult for me to conceptualise why they would. It’s that classic tendency to think of yourself as the underdog and to not value yourself as much as you do others. However, if everyone can relate to this feeling in some way, then this apparent isolating thought is actually a collective experience. So, you are not alone in feeling this way, and you are certainly not the imposter.
Illustration by Lydia Kempton, @lydiak_arts.