I studied Political Science and Economics my first round of college, during which I belonged to a national Political Science student organization that consisted of students from dozens of universities. When we’d meet for conferences or retreats, I, who was attending a US News ranked #227 school, would sit alongside peers attending Ivy Leagues and top state schools. Although I’d been exposed to some Greek philosophy in high school and taken some philosophy classes in college, these students who were ostensibly my peers sounded like they could have been my professors. I didn’t feel like I belonged.
But slowly with the advice of mentors and friends, I began to learn that what I was feeling was nothing but some imposter syndrome and youthful intimidation. My fellow students knew more than me that was true. But their knowledge and experience could also be an avenue to expanding my own horizons. And so I learned that instead of being intimidated, I should take the chance to ask valuable questions, take advantage of their knowledge and resources, and improve myself instead of wallowing in self-pity and insecurity. I would then go on to be one of the youngest employees at the Hawaii State Capitol, advising elected officials with decades of experience on matters of public policy and communications strategy. Despite the ripe opportunity for imposter syndrome to arise again (and it would from time to time), I had already learned that one should bring what value they can to the table instead of immediately resigning oneself to being invaluable or irrelevant because of age or lack of experience.
Now, about ten years later from those first conferences, I’m making the transition from politics and government to software engineering. And the move from the social sciences and (aside from the legal aspects of legislation and law) a very people-centered profession to one quite more technical has again brought up those feelings of inadequacy and inexperience. It always seems like someone knows a better way of doing things and is a more capable programmer than me. And now that I’m applying for jobs and preparing for interviews, there’s also the ever creeping suspicion that “perhaps I’m not cut out for this”. I have to consistently remind myself that nothing’s changed since those days of asking valuable questions and working hard to learn my stuff. Everyone, including those I’m competing with for jobs, started at the beginning and is working to be the best they can be in this field. It’s up to me to apply those lessons I learned in a very different career field to thrive in this new one.
