This week I would like to reflect on the week’s video: The Myth of the Genius Programmer. In particular, I would like to reflect on how it relates to imposter syndrome.
The video touches upon the idea of hiding one’s mistakes from the world. The quotes from the beginning of the video express the desire of developers to put their best face forward. Whether that be to only release an open-source project into the wild when it is a complete product or to delete old potentially broken code from a repository stems from a fear of showing our mistakes to the world. The tendency to want to program “in a cave” and come out with a working project is another manifestation of this fear. For me, imposter syndrome is a big driver of the desire to program in a cave and hide my mistakes from scrutiny. From my interaction with other students on various media, I have come to realize that this feeling of imposter syndrome is common among students. Particularly in a program where people are coming from different career paths and embarking on this journey as an adult, I feel like students tend to doubt their abilities and indeed their qualifications to succeed in a new field.
For me, this video provided some insight into how to feel more confident. Failing fast and collaborating early are two ways that newcomers to the field can learn quickly to find their way. By recognizing my mistakes quickly and surrounding myself with experienced developers, I hope to overcome the feeling of imposter syndrome and build confidence in myself and my abilities.
