What am I doing here? Everyone else already knows what they’re doing. They know what they are majoring in. They are getting better grades. I haven’t even gotten started yet and I’m already failing. I’m not ready for college. I can’t do this.
Any of this ringing any bells for you? You may have felt this way before. It always seems to happen when you’re embarking on a new phase of life. Starting college is one of the most common times we feel this way, because uncharted territory is scary and it’s easy to think we don’t belong. This feeling is called impostor syndrome.
You might feel this after receiving your first bad grade on an assignment or test, when you’ve experienced a negative social situation or if you haven’t found a solid friend group on campus. You might feel like you should just drop out or socially withdraw, but keep in mind this is every other freshman’s first crack at college too and all students go through problems.
Thankfully, there are ways to get through these feelings of self-doubt.