Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Imposter Syndrome is the internal experience of believing that you are not as competent or skilled as others believe you to be. Furthermore, it is the experience of feeling as though you are going to be found out as a fraud. You feel like you do not belong and you got there through complete luck. This feeling can affect anyone regardless of their status.

I have worked ever since I turned sixteen years old and Imposter Syndrome almost felt like a symptom that comes along with be promoted or applying for a new job. Being placed in a new position I wanted to immediately be the best at it because I want to be what the employer expected, I am a perfectionist, but you cannot start as the best. You have to learn how to be the best. You were chosen because you were most qualified for the position, qualified, not the superior best.

As an intern I have struggled with some of the work that I have been assigned. My goal is to design Learning Modules that provide easily accessible instructions to students on how to use the online data provided by our website. I am great with data. Data is my background and it is what I am comfortable working with. However, I am a Mathematics major who never had intentions of being a teacher. I had no clue how to create different types of data assignments for students across various mathematics and reading levels. How am I supposed to be the best at something I did not think I even had a passion for or no interest in even pursing?

To combat these overwhelming experience that is imposter syndrome I think it is important to be aware of the symptoms that arise. According to the scholarly article, Very Well Mind, common signs of imposter syndrome include:

• Self-doubt
• An inability to realistically assess your competence and skills
• Attributing your success to external factors
• Berating your performance
• Fear that you will not live up to expectations
• Overachieving
• Sabotaging your own success
• Setting very challenging goals and feeling disappointing when you fall short

Not only is it important to be aware of your symptoms, but know that you are not alone. The International Journal of Behavioral Science estimates that about seventy percent of people will experience imposter syndrome once.

If I could provide another intern advice about imposter syndrome it would be that if you are struggling with any of the symptoms listed above it is important to talk about what is going on. Talk to your mentor about theses feelings and understand that these feelings are not facts that define who you are as a person.

If I could provide a mentor with advice about imposter syndrome it would be to not assume that your intern is qualified to do everything you are asking. We can prevent imposter syndrome from the start by providing the tools, skills, and education to make an intern be successful. Then if imposter syndrome still occurs it is necessary for the mentor to listen to their intern. It is not a comfortable conversation for the intern to share, but it is the responsibility of the mentor to listen.

It is important to discuss Imposter Syndrome because it happens in seven out of ten people at least once. It is not something that we should be stigmatizing, in fact we should be embracing this issue. If we embrace this issue together then the mentor and intern will provide the most success for one another.

Imposter Syndrome is not something that is easy to navigate. Know what the symptoms are. Talk to someone about your experience. Remind yourself that you are not alone.