Profile

Meet Mary

Mary

Graduate Student

Mechanical Engineering

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

Mary came to MIT with a master’s degree, but found herself questioning her abilities when faced with qualifying exams. Her self-doubt was made worse by her struggles with PTSD and anxiety disorder. Preparing for such a high stakes, comprehensive exam felt like an insurmountable task and triggered feelings of imposter syndrome. Mary employed many different types of strategies to help her study and get mentally ready for this big task. Using a planner to space out her studying and make time for sleep, proved to be crucial. In addition to various planning techniques, meditation and mental reframing helped Mary manage her stress and self-doubt.

When I have had failure or setbacks in classes...I remind myself that there was this way, harder thing than this one class that you just did, that you did manage to succeed in. And because of that, everyone is on board with you continuing to be here. I am sort arguing against my own negative inner voice.”

Mary, Graduate Student