Expert Article ( Draft)

We are in this Together

How to be successful “mentally” as a college student 
By Emily Tsai

At some point in our college careers, as much as anyone would like to admit or not, each of us probably experiences a few minor mental breakdowns following the worst imagination of our future. Admit it, it happens. Does this sound familiar? 

Picture this: 

It’s the first day back to school from a summer break, you sit down in your BUAD 304 class, and when your professor asked “ how is your summer break? What did you do?” You hear your peers naming top tier companies like Disney, NASA, Goldman Sach, Bain, Google. It’s inevitable that your mental comparison of yourself starts to happen. Then somehow it triggers the doubt in your system and ended with endless nights of the trailing question into your career or major choices.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 30% of first-time undergraduate students change their major once within the first 3 years of college. By changing majors, this ultimately leads to changing careers. Again, this us back to the point-- it happens. In times like this, maintaining positive mental health is extremely crucial. However, in a competitive environment of elite institutions, it’s hard! To put yourself in a better position mentally, the first step is acceptance. Accepting the fact that you are not alone, and although you may not visibly witness each of your peer’s struggles, trust that at some point they also experience the same challenges as you.

Acceptance fits into a variety of situations whether it’s accepting you are not best, accepting you may fail at some point of your life, or as trivial as accepting that you made the wrong bet against your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Acceptance: Good News, Bad News

The good news is there is no bad news. Everything is just part of the learning process. In an article by Quartz, a professor in psychology at the University of Toronto said “ acceptance involves not trying to change how we are feeling, but staying in touch with your feelings and taking them for what they are.” Acceptance is a mechanism that over time can lead to positive psychological health. With this in mind, acceptance falls under the category of mindfulness in Cognitive Therapy. By practicing mindfulness in addition to acceptance, it can lead to stronger self-confidence. When we become mindful of our actions, our mental state slows down. Therefore, it allows us to make better decisions and feel more confident in our choices (Roberts 1).

Connecting this back to our example of comparing ourselves to our peers. As a transfer student to USC, I have definitely experienced my fair share of imposter syndrome in my first semester. No one ever talks about the mid-night cram before an exam or the number of rejections they received before landing that “perfect” job. Accepting the concept that we are not alone and keeping in mind that we are enough as ourselves is the start of becoming “mentally” successful as a college student.

Be You! Make it till you believe it
Remember, everything you accomplish up to this point has been because of who you are. Although imposter syndrome is unavoidable, there are ways to avoid feeling like an imposter.

In a Ted talk by Valerie Young, she mentioned the difference between an imposter and a non- imposter the difference in thinking. No one likes to receive rejections, make mistakes, or fail. However, these uncomfortable situations are just part of life. In instances like these, accepting yourself for who you are and owning your failures and move on is one of the most effective ways of overcoming imposter syndrome. Over 70% of the people in this world have experienced this feeling at some point in their life. By talking and normalizing these feelings during difficult times can help one feel less alone. As much as we preach confidence, it is impossible to feel confident 100% Consequently,  you don't need to feel confident to act confident. Therefore, by using the technique "fake it till you make it" during stressful circumstances is the beginning of changing your perception. Over time, you will start to believe in the new thought and use the reframing as a technique. Therefore, "rather than having an imposter life, you can have an imposter moment" (Young).