Impostor Syndrome

Anonymous

April 17,2023 at 3:09PM UTC

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Impostor Syndrome

Does anyone else struggle with this? In a few months, I'll have my BTEC NED and then I will be working on my bachelors however impostor syndrome has currently made it increasingly difficult for me to do this.

I am the only girl in my class of 27 and also have the highest grades yet the boys always seem to know more than I do? They can sometimes understand things quicker or already know what the teacher is talking about before they finish explaining and I just feel like I don't belong. That somehow, I've gotten lucky with my grades and I wouldn't be able to do as well as I have without my learning support mentor who helps me break up information and express myself (I am suspected to be neurodivergent).

There are a couple of other reasons too but I do not want to drag this out.

Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with this or move past it? I'm currently trying to work on a couple of large real-world projects and this is affecting my mental health but I have had bad experiences with mental well-being staff.

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Meg NorrisApril 19,2023 at 12:36PM UTC
I don't know how helpful this is, but I want to say that what you are experiencing seems to be pretty common. I am experienced in my career field, have achieved rather rapid upward moves in my career, both within a company and moving to another company, and I still sometimes struggle with this.
When I am working on a more demanding project or investigation I sometimes think "this is it. This is when they figure out that I'm really three kids in a trench coat just making this all up on the fly."
The reality is that I have worked hard to be successful, I continue working to learn more about my field, and I hold myself to a higher standard than my managers ever have. At this point I've decided to try to adopt the attitude that either I actually know what i'm doing so i need to stop worrying, or i am making it all up but everyone is really fooled and satisfied with my results so i need to stop worrying.
Nicola BanksApril 23,2023 at 4:36AM UTC
You deserve to be there
Doesn’t matter how you finish only that you do..
Think of yourself as a leader to all other girls that may want to study in your field in the future…
again… YOU DESERVE IT ..There’s nothing “lucky” about your grades.. you’ve worked damn hard to get them…