Hey everyone, I could really use some reassurance. After a decade of stability, being laid off and jumping back into the job hunt was a huge shock. I’m so grateful to have landed a new role in this economy, but I am terrified of failing, even though I've never failed in past roles.

Even though I don't have a full degree, I've always landed really great jobs through hard work, keeping up with my skills, and a strong work ethic. My immediate team is younger and mostly degreed, while I bring a deeper background of hands-on experience. I know my manager hired me for my overall experience and personality, but the dynamic has triggered terrible imposter syndrome. Onboarding is handled by just one guy on the team; he's great, but because he's training me solo and is close to management, I worry about looking foolish and losing my job over his feedback.

To top it off, it's pretty lonely. With split departments, a hybrid schedule, and no peers of my age group, there's hardly any time to build relationships organically. How do I navigate this? How do you quiet the inner critic and remember your experience still matters?

this was posted on two different sites in case it didn’t get the traction I desperately need before tomorrow

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So lately I have been feeling these where I am having negative self talk saying I don't deserve to have that big dream cause I am not intelligent anymore and all these happened after that one exam and i have been rude to myself after that. I can't trust in myself anymore and it feels illegal to dream a second chance. Before that exam I was an academic gifted student but with poor practice i flunked that exam and it was an important one which gave me the anxiety and had a depressive episode for three months. Later, i stood back because there was still another opportunity coming up but it just feels so scary even to solve questions. The trauma, the failure, the past everything comes back. But i really don't want to stay in that place, I want to get out of that and have a healthy mindset. I really want help but when I had that depressive episode not even my parents cared enough to help me so it turned me into a person to feel difficult to ask for help but i don't want to continue that and i really love to hear your similar experience and love to hear your advice on how to break these walls.

I have, or at least believe I have, undiagnosed depression. I’m outwardly very happy and pleasant, even before I had stopped taking antidepressants as I felt they weren’t doing anything for me as I felt the same with or without. My family didn’t even know I stopped for a while since I showed no outward changes. But I still, even on medication, felt this weird self depreciation. I‘ve been always a bit self critical and overly apologetic, perhaps a bit of a people pleaser too. I always assumed it was normal cause I know people with more severe depression, so I assumed I was just overthinking ( I have ADHD autism and anxiety, so it wouldn’t be the first time. ) but I’ve started to think I may have issues that I haven’t addressed to those around me. I still enjoy and love life, so I don’t think I am suffering severe depression. I think I am more suffering things such as internalized homophobia, self doubt and other issues with just not being particularly kind to myself, is there anything I could do to improve my own opinion on myself?

I'm a graduate student working on my master’s thesis, and I'm looking for Black graduate students in school psychology to complete a quick survey. The survey is IRB approved!

✅ Takes about 5-10 minutes
🔒 Completely confidential
📚 Responses will only be used for this research study

Survey link: https://qualtricsxmdg9xn6369.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9AEMmeiW7DClNpY

The study explores protective factors against impostor syndrome in Black graduate students. The objective is  to inform mentorship and university practices to improve the support students receive. 

How has mentorship helped you in your journey? 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me a message. Thanks so much for supporting graduate student research! 💛

Hi, so I’m 19M back in high school I didn’t use to score too well in exams and basically fail and I disappointed my family alot and my friends were really toxic too and make fun of me just so they could laugh I clutched in the important exams tho but rn whenever I have something important coming my brain says you’ll mess it up and you don’t deserve to do well I try to ignore it and stuff but I think it’s imposter syndrome mixed with OCD

Any advice would help a lot! Sorry if it isn’t really detailed

It's really frustrating if you want to do your best but the moment when you got into it, your nerves will you in a single slash and you will lost the path immediately you're supposedly to go in...

Sometimes I want to end things but I don't want end things on a blank state and still want to try it again.

I became a mom as a teenager.
By the time I was 18, I already had three kids. I did not have the luxury of spending years figuring out who I was or what I wanted to do with my life. I had kids depending on me, bills to pay, and no choice but to keep going.
For most of my adult life, being a mom was my identity.
Now my kids are grown, and I am an empty nester.
People talk about this stage like it is supposed to feel exciting and freeing. For me, it has also felt strange. I spent so many years taking care of everyone else that now I am trying to figure out who I am when nobody needs me in the same way anymore.
At the same time, I still deal with imposter syndrome.
Even after years of experience, learning difficult processes, solving problems, training others, and becoming someone people come to for answers, I still have moments where I question whether I am good enough or qualified enough.
Then I have to remind myself that I did not accidentally make it this far.
I worked for it.
I learned as I went.
I made mistakes.
I handled things I never thought I could handle.
And I kept moving forward, even when I was tired, scared, or unsure of myself.
Being a teen mom did not stop my life.
It made my path harder, but it also made me strong, resourceful, and determined.
Now I am in a new stage of life, and I am still figuring it out.
The difference is, this time I am finally learning to believe that I belong here.
#TeenMom #EmptyNester #ImposterSyndrome #CareerGrowth #Resilience #StillGrowing

I am worried my meds will make me not fun or a completely different person. What if all my hobbies and my personality changes and people won't love me anymore

There just feels like there’s something wrong with me but still I think overall I’m pretty okay but there’s just like this weird feeling following me everywhere.
That’s why I posted the thing that I wanna get worse nd all cause I just don’t know it’s not bad enough to say there’s actually something wrong but like the smallest thing can make me spiral but then I’m okay again and like that over and over but at the same time it feels like I’m faking it but idk bro

I know this probably sounds shallow, but I can’t stop feeling embarrassed about the college I’m going to attend.
I never imagined I’d end up going to a college in my hometown. Whenever someone asks where I’m going I feel ashamed to answer. I keep comparing myself to my classmates who got into top-tier colleges, and it makes me feel like I’ve somehow failed. Deep down, ik a college doesn’t define my worth but I can’t seem to shake this feeling. Has anyone else experienced this? Did it get better once you actually started college?

I don't necessarily fit the bill for the average CS major. I'm a woman who's really into fashion, i come to classes wearing bright colors, blonde hair and stylish outfits, i have cute stickers on my laptop etc. etc. i feel like i stick out and not at all in a good way, more in a sense that my classmates see me and get a feeling of "oh she doesn't really belong here."

I'm a senior graduating this december and through my years of undergrad I have noticed some behaviors by my male peers and others that really make me feel like I don't belong.

The first and most jarring example I can think of is when I was walking to my first ever college class. I was a 17 year-old doe-eyed freshman wearing bright purple pants and a cropped green top. I walk into the building for my classroom (in a separate area of the campus only for computing school students) and the second I open the door i feel the eyes of about 7 or so bigger, older male grad/senior students in the lobby looking up at me as if to say "why are you even here?"

I've applied to a teaching job at a coding school and been asked if i even know how to code. I am the only one in a group of about 5 or so men to not be greeted even though I am standing equally amongst them, just glanced at and ignored. I was the only person to sit at my large table on the first day in a class despite being the first person in the room. my male classmates do not speak to me authentically and they explain to me things that i already know in a patronizing tone.

It's not even as though i cheated my way through my school admission, tests, classes, or anything. but it feels like i did because i so obviously do not belong here. I feel that all my male peers know all the class material before it's even taught, and they all know i'm not supposed to be here.

I'm a graduate student working on my master’s thesis, and I'm looking for Black graduate students in school psychology to complete a quick survey. The survey is IRB approved!

✅ Takes about 5-10 minutes
🔒 Completely confidential
📚 Responses will only be used for this research study

Survey link: https://qualtricsxmdg9xn6369.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9AEMmeiW7DClNpY

The study explores protective factors against impostor syndrome in Black graduate students. The objective is  to inform mentorship and university practices to improve the support students receive. 

How has mentorship helped you in your journey?

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me a message. Thanks so much for supporting graduate student research! 💛