{"id":24708,"date":"2026-02-25T13:43:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=24708"},"modified":"2026-03-31T13:48:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:48:57","slug":"not-a-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/not-a-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Graphic by Addison Watts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feb. 25, 2026 | <\/span>Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

Since attending Western, I have been experiencing a lot of feelings. Stress has admittedly been the primary one. Yet, it isn\u2019t the feeling I want to discuss at this moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of my family members and friends often speak about what I do at university. They talk about how impressive it is that I\u2019ve gotten this far in life. I\u2019m married, independent from my parents and have been managing to live my life without starving. The compliments are always really hard to listen to, though not because they aren\u2019t genuine. It\u2019s because I feel really undeserving of them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are so many things I feel like I\u2019m doing wrong in life, and I feel like they think I\u2019m someone else. Sometimes, it is like I am playing a part instead of being who I am.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Imposter phenomenon, known more popularly as imposter syndrome, is a condition that can cause the person identifying with it to feel like a fraud. According to Stanford University, it was originally documented by psychologists Pauline Rode Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978. It was described by them as \u201cthe internal experience of doubting your abilities.\u201d They credit external reasons for their success in life instead of their own abilities and work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a cycle of sorts that happens to those who have imposter syndrome. It usually starts when they are given a task or assignment. It could be anything from writing an essay to organizing a messy closet. The thought of the task causes feelings of anxiety, which could then lead to being overly prepared for the task or procrastinating on it. Once it\u2019s been done, there is a brief moment where the person will feel achievement and like they did a good job. However, it then turns into a spiral of all sorts of negative ideas as to why they were successful. They could think it was luck, that the professor felt bad for them, they fooled those around them into believing they were capable of doing this, etc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The impact of this condition is great. Individuals, especially students, who struggle with imposter syndrome can have trouble succeeding in life. Burnout is highly likely to happen more often for people who struggle with this. There\u2019s also a fear of bringing attention to oneself, as the thought of being wrong while already believing that someone doesn\u2019t belong is a mortifying experience. Students could be less likely to speak up in class or avoid attending events that could benefit them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who are most susceptible to imposter syndrome are people who struggle with perfectionism or self-efficacy, particularly if they are in competitive environments. It also makes those who come from stricter backgrounds, where the fear of being judged or failing in life was ingrained in them from a young age, are also quite susceptible to experience it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While men experience this condition, it is very likely that women will experience it much more in their lives, especially very accomplished women. Despite the progress being made in many different careers to achieve equality, no matter what gender a person is, we still live in a society that is primarily dominated by men and where women tend to struggle to be taken seriously.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Dr. Suzanne Feigofsky, there are a few different subtypes of imposter syndrome that can be explained depending on the person and their personality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first type is the \u201cperfectionist.\u201d They believe that they have to do everything correctly and anything less than perfect is considered to be a failure in their eyes. They beat themselves up, hyperfocusing on what they could have done better instead of seeing the good things they managed to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second type is what Feigofsky refers to is the \u201cnatural genius.\u201d These individuals measure their worth and performance based on how quickly or easily they can accomplish their goals in an activity. They think that working hard is shameful, that it should be done right the first time and if they fail to understand the subject, they are stupid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, there are \u201csuperhumans.\u201d They see success as being able to juggle many different things at once and being able to thrive in all of them. As someone who has to manage a lot of different things at once, it is a miracle to be successful in all of the things I\u2019m supposed to be doing at once. If they struggle or fall behind in one little thing, they view it as a total failure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExperts\u201d are those who suffer with imposter syndrome that view their competence based on their knowledge or ability in the task. The less they know about something they are supposed to do, the more anxious they get, so they try to overcompensate in the subject by absorbing as much information as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, there\u2019s the \u201csoloist.\u201d They view themselves as being the only ones who can do their task. Asking for help and admitting that they don\u2019t understand something is basically their worst nightmare. They want to be able to do it alone, viewing a necessity of help as failure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Singer Billie Eilish spoke about her struggles with imposter syndrome when she was in an interview with Vanity Fair. She describes a time when she did a radio show performance: \u201cI felt like I was pretending to be Billie Eilish \u2026 I completely wasn\u2019t looking at myself as myself \u2026 Happened multiple times at like award shows and whatever. I just felt like a parody of myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Living with this condition can be really difficult. It\u2019s important to keep in mind, though, that there are ways to manage and make it a bit easier to navigate. The first thing someone suffering from this condition should do is acknowledge their feelings \u2014 don\u2019t write them off just because it looks like everyone else is ahead and it\u2019s time to catch up. Then, focus on what has been accomplished instead of comparing what has been done to others. It is also important to recognize physical and emotional fatigue. Realize that all this effort that has been poured into whatever it is being done requires a lot of work. Not luck or pity, it is work. Therefore, if an individual is in the room, it is likely that they deserve to be there of their own accord.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at <\/span>howllifestyle@wou.edu<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feb. 25, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor Since attending Western, I have been experiencing a lot of feelings. Stress has admittedly been the primary one. Yet, it isn\u2019t the feeling I want to discuss at this moment.\u00a0 A lot of my family members and friends often speak about what I do at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Not a fraud","_seopress_titles_desc":"A deep dive into imposter syndrome","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1753,8942,1257,6721,7556,7103,1819,737,8949,3512,7710,8944,8948,5283,493,2314,8938,2273,4793,8943,8939,8941,5990,154,2139,4649,397,871,1580,8951,952,6836,8947,2096,2969,8633,4654,6312,802,8088,8950,8937,5068,8940,1254,8946,8945,2503,684,3927,3381,66,3747,6310,39],"class_list":["post-24708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-advice","tag-aid","tag-anxiety","tag-article","tag-background","tag-crisis","tag-depression","tag-education","tag-efficacy","tag-failure","tag-fake","tag-fraud","tag-growth-mindset","tag-happy","tag-health","tag-help","tag-higher-ed","tag-higher-education","tag-identity","tag-identity-crisis","tag-imposter","tag-imposter-syndrome","tag-issues","tag-lifestyle","tag-men","tag-mental","tag-mental-health","tag-mindfulness","tag-mindset","tag-motivate","tag-motivation","tag-oregon-2","tag-perfectionism","tag-psychology","tag-sad","tag-sadness","tag-self","tag-self-worth","tag-stress","tag-strict","tag-stricter","tag-studentife","tag-success","tag-syndrome","tag-university","tag-vulnerability","tag-vulnerable","tag-wellness","tag-western","tag-wolf","tag-wolfie","tag-wolves","tag-women","tag-worth","tag-wou"],"modified_by":"saragerrick","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24716,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24708\/revisions\/24716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}