I applied to university and one day the admission letter arrived. I felt joy, but at the same time thoughts appeared like flashes: “could it be true?” “how lucky I was!”

I arrived at the university, traveled alone from my home country, and started classes in a language that is not my native tongue, and similar thoughts came back… “do I really deserve to take this spot?” “what if they made a mistake?” “the others have a better level than me”

Today, even after having passed all the courses from previous semesters, sometimes my mind tells me: “I was really very lucky to have passed everything”…

Luck? Is it really 100% luck to have spent hours studying, translating words I didn’t understand, making double the effort to study in a language that is not my native one, changing some hours of pleasure or rest for learning?

This phenomenon is felt every day by students who, like me, often doubt our abilities and attribute many of our achievements to external factors or chance. This phenomenon is called: Impostor Syndrome.

We are not alone

Talking with classmates at the university, I realized that this is more common than we imagine.

Many minimize their achievements and maximize their mistakes as a way of “proving to themselves” that they are not entirely deserving of what they have achieved. One classmate told me that, when being accepted into the master’s program, he felt that maybe it had been a mistake because he didn’t have work experience like the others. Another classmate who had just obtained an internship at a company thought that maybe she got the position because there were not many applicants who lived close to where the company is located, as if all the knowledge she had was not enough, as if striving every day to improve the languages she speaks did not carry much weight when it came to getting the position. I even met a classmate who decided to withdraw from the master’s program because she never managed to feel good enough, avoiding exams out of fear of failing.

Why do we feel this?

Sometimes we believe that recognizing our achievements is a bit arrogant, or sometimes we are afraid that feeling “deserving of the achievement” implies never making mistakes, or because how is it possible that if I come from another country I can be good in a country that is not mine, since I am supposed to “be at a disadvantage”.

And so, we end up seeing others as capable, most of them… except ourselves.

Changing perspective…

If only we could step outside our bodies and see ourselves from afar, like an outsider, maybe the perspective we have of ourselves would change, maybe we would also see ourselves as part of that majority that is capable… maybe we would notice everything we have achieved and all the effort we put into it. Maybe we would stop calling “100% luck” what has cost us so much effort.

One of my goals for this year is to treat myself with more kindness, to value my effort more, and to turn down the volume of that inner voice that from time to time doubts me… to understand that this voice is my mind’s reaction to situations outside its comfort zone, that appears to “protect me” and “keep me safe” but that in reality makes me run away. That voice does not define who I am.

What can we do?

First, talk about it. Breaking the silence helps us realize that this feeling is very common among most people: in students, athletes, professionals, teachers, etc. Second, little by little try to change the internal dialogue: stop calling it “totally luck” and start calling it “dedication”, “effort”, “drive”, “commitment”. And third, act despite feeling fear and hearing that inner voice that tells us to doubt ourselves; maybe we will never feel 100% sure to move forward, so today can be a good opportunity to try.

We are students and we are learning all the time. Being here is not a mistake. It is the result of all the effort we put in to reach this point.