Imposter Syndrome!

Simple definition: A State of mind where you start doubting if you deserve or even qualify to be in the spaces that you are in!

You know you are great! You are awesome! You thrive in most of the things you do and more so, you are an independent decent human being, flexible enough to adjust to any new environment. So you decide to move abroad in pursuit of your dreams. You and your family are very excited about these changes, and you are confident that you will do great! But then…. but then you get to your destination, and the harshest realities slap you hard in the face!

The culture shock is massive. You suddenly realize you have an accent; most people don’t sound like you. So, you are forced to mimic the way they speak to be understood. You must repeat yourself too many times, even use sign language, just to receive a simple service at a local grocery store haha. The vocabulary is different, so you struggle using them because, well, you are not understood, or maybe just maybe, the one person who understands you ends up correcting your word choice!

Most of your professors have a thick midwestern accent, you barely understand anything. You try consulting after, but they can’t understand you either. One of them might just hit you with a “Do you understand all the text written in English?”. And now,…, now your head starts spinning. Have I not been speaking English all my life? How did I even get here? How come I can’t seem to adjust as well as I thought I would? Anxiety starts kicking in as all these questions start spiraling. Am cooked! You tell yourself. “I don’t think I can survive here!” You can’t stop comparing yourself with your peers. Your nights are filled with tears and thoughts of self-doubt. You are scared of inevitable failure, that quiz, test, exam, and even your wildest fear, losing that scholarship! At this point, you are officially depressed. You thought you were good enough, it appears not! You have high expectations for yourself, but now you lack the motivation to go on. All the dreams you had start disappearing. You meet people with a smile, but deep-down emotions are piling up. You are in the wrong space. You are not ready for this, maybe you should go home!

And yet, there’s always one reason why you decided to make that move. That one reason is the key to getting your motivation back! It is the only reason why you get yourself together, navigate all these negativities, and push through. This is how you win! Better go find that reason!

Goodluck!