This time last year I was preparing to graduate. With so much excitement, I nearly lost track of the fact that my whole life was changing. I would be moving out, going to a new school, meeting new friends, and immersing myself in this new me. I wish I could have allowed myself to be scared shitless then because it would have made the transition that much easier. Here I am a year later exploring, dealing with, challenging, and everything in between in this new world that I am able to call my home. Instead of saying "in blank days I will be graduating" I am saying "in blank days I am going to Providence for my Practicum. To think last year that I would have accomplished as much as I did is non-existent. 

I am excited to begin my journey in the Fall but also equally as nervous BUT I am letting myself enjoy the experience of now so that I do not make the same mistakes I did last year. Who knew Education classes could be applicable even if you are out of college? Wrapping up this semester is important, and we did it. Yes, we--all of us. Anyone reading this. You made it here because you were meant to. Onwards and upwards. Always. 

You see no one told me that at the age of twenty-two, I would be faced with one of the biggest challenges of my life. At the age of sixteen our biggest struggle is learning how to drive. At seventeen trying to figure out what colleges to apply to, and from 18-21 we live in a world that is fueled by our new-earned freedom and independence.

As a twenty-two year old, I sit here being faced one of the most important and mind-spinning decisions of my life: How do I exist knowing that I am good enough?

Impostor Syndrome is the psychological phenomenon that occurs when individuals of similar characteristics are exposed to the reality that their existence is parallel to others. Symptoms like anxiety, withdrawal, and isolation all come with this interesting yet hard-to-study experience that oddly enough most everyone goes through. 

There will be days I ask myself: Am I doing what I am meant to do? Am I going through this process right? What is so-and-so doing? I bet they are having a different experience. Impostor Syndrome thrives on the human's innate ability to compare the self to the environment it is in. If there is even one little discrepancy, the mind converts it into anxiety attempting to navigate something that we solely need to just deal with.

So why is Impostor Syndrome so important? Because odds are you experienced it once before. Those odds are pretty much as strong as they will be. The real reason though: Take a look around you and see what people could accomplish if they had the resilience to stop comparing themselves to the relative "star" in their discipline. Be you. Be strong. And stop second guessing your ability to succeed. You are here because you deserve it.