When starting uni, I was really overwhelmed by the work. I didn't know half of the words my lecturers said. To be honest it sounded like they used a thesaurus for every word (no offence). But it made me feel really uneducated and not cut out for uni. So here are some things that helped me feel less like an imposter 😊
1) Validate yourself
I know it sounds cliche, but you have every right to feel how you feel. It is completely normal to feel imposter syndrome at uni, I know it feels very isolating and like everyone else has their shit together. But I promise you that's not the case.
I remember in my second week at uni, I went into my lecture and I wasn't able to pre-read all of the set readings. But I thought everyone else had. So I was sat in the lecture hall about to have a panic attack because I thought that everyone was so much smarter than me and just knew the content already. Then I turned to the girl next to me and I said "Hey did you do all of the readings?" Then she said she had done. FURTHER PANIC.
Then at the end of the lecture I asked another person, who looked fully engaged in the lecture, and I said "Did you know what was going on during that lecture?" She replied "nope, not a single clue! I'm too hungover for this tbh."
This was kind of reassuring because it made me realise that everyone doing the module was ultimately going to be at different levels. Also everyone has their own expertise so if you don't thrive on this module, you will another and that's fine! Safe to say I did not thrive on my research methods module 🥴
2) Reach out to people
Another sounding cliche, but honestly there are so many people feeling this way. And the more people you tell and communicate it to, the more likely you are to find someone who shares this horrible imposter syndrome. But also, talking about it out loud can also help tie into the first point, of validating yourself.
3) Don't compare yourself to the "perfect" uni lifestyle
We all know how easy it is, especially because of social media and stuff, to compare our own experiences to other people. Like we have all been there. But the idea of the "perfect" uni lifestyle doesn't actually exist. In second year, I really didn't thrive at all, like mentally it wasn't the vibe. This made me feel very isolated in my experience which also tied in to the imposter syndrome. I didn't like my modules, I didn't like going to uni and I didn't like my house. I just wanted to move home and drop out. Then I would see acquaintances that I had met at uni, "thriving", going on nights out, loving their modules and it just made me feel really crap.
But what reassured me was seeing other people having similar experiences to myself. For example, I remember Madeline Argy saying in one of her TikToks how she felt quite isolated at uni as the people she had met were just not her cup of tea. Not only that, but one of my best friends from back home told me how she didn't really attend her seminars for a module as the people just weren't her type of people. And she is such a social butterfly (and the best human ever), so obviously it isn't about the person it's about the environment. This was really reassuring.
One thing that I kept on reminding myself was I'm here for me, no one else. I'm here as a stepping stone to get me to the next place. If I make some good friends, slay. If not, ah well. I think once you kind of have that mentality, it can make meeting new friends more organic and less forced. Like it will just naturally happen.
Even though I had a horrible second year, third year was incredible. So if you feel kind of lost right now, there is always something better around the corner. Things can only go up when you're feeling low - CRINGE!! But it's true. However, you also have to make pro-active decisions to make your situation better. For example, I hated my house living situation, so I made sure that for third year, I changed that.
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