Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a First-Generation College Student
EXCERPT: Southern New Hampshire University
First-generation college students face unique challenges that go well beyond adjusting to academic rigor.
People who are the first in their families to attend college often experience nagging internal messages about whether they're smart enough to finish a degree and even whether they deserve to be in college. The competing priorities of work and family can contribute additional stressors, often leading a student to ask, "Why am I here?"
As a licensed professional counselor, educator and academic leader who was the first in my family to attend college, I've been talking students down from deciding to drop out for more than a decade. Here are the three most common reasons I've heard from students wanting to drop out, and my responses to each.
I'm not sure it's worth it
This statement isn't necessarily about how much money the student would expect to earn upon graduating. I often find that within this assertion is a subtext: "I'm not sure if I'm worth it." This speaks to a much deeper questioning of whether the student believes she or he has a right to be in college
When I recognize students are experiencing this, I ask them to bring to mind a previous situation that felt similarly doubtful at first but is no longer so. Students often surprise themselves as they name stories about their marriages, in parenting (a big one), a cross-country move, a new job and so forth. Whereas each of these experiences may have started off as scary and continues to have scary moments (parenting, in particular), the initial stress and worry dissipated as the student developed competencies in these new situations.
I then ask the students to tell me what they did to overcome the doubt. Usually the conversation centers around trial and error and eventual acceptance that comes from trusting their ability to learn from mistakes and grow through doubts.
Certainly, there are times in which stress revisits students, particularly in moments of trying to learn especially difficult material. This often brings people to think:
I don't know if I'm smart enough to do this
As a person who's sobbed over a stats book while uttering, "I guess I'm just stupid," in between fistfuls of popcorn and Hostess Ding Dongs, I can relate. Math anxiety and its bigger, meaner companion, stats anxiety, are very real; but it can be any combination of difficult coursework, a faculty member who demands the best, and challenging life circumstances that lead students to question their abilities.
I remind students in these circumstances that faculty really do want them to succeed and, in fact, experience a deep sense of satisfaction from helping someone overcome learning barriers.
RD.