As the semester creeps towards its end, many of us are facing more and more projects that bear more and more weight on our grade. Whether it’s massive experiments that we need to provide deep analysis on or perhaps a deep dive into English literature, we are all struggling a bit as we wait for the semester to end.

Some of us deal with constant pressure to do as well as we can, pouring hours and hours into these essays that we will likely never look at again. We build this sense of anxiety as we go through these papers trying to achieve the best grades we can.

For some of us, the worst thing in the world is to fail our assignment and wreck our future.

Fear not everyone, not every assignment is the end of the world.

While it is important that we give deference to our work (we can’t neglect our grades or GPA’s if we intend on moving onto graduate school) it’s also important that we take the time to realize that we are capable of the work we are doing.

Imposter syndrome seems to run rampant when this time of year comes around. For those who are unaware, imposter syndrome is the feeling that someone will be exposed as a fraud and that all of the work they have done up to this point will expose them as such. That, while they may have crafted a shiny career, it’s all glitter and no gold.

I am here to tell you all, my fellow students, that this is not the case and you are completely capable of pulling off these assignments.

I have an assignment due every couple of weeks where I need to summarize a court decision. I pour over supreme court decisions and analyze every paragraph to pull all the details together and produce a well crafted and meticulously documented summary. Consistently I get a perfect grade and a “well done” comment from my professor, but every time I do this painstaking process I wonder how much less effort I could’ve put into it to actually pull out the same result.

I stop myself from wondering that every time I go through this process.

It is important to remember that even though we don’t necessarily know what life past school can be like, our professors are professionals. We have to have some kind of trust that they know how to instruct us. My summaries may be a pain to go through, but I have no doubt become much more adept at understanding legal interpretation through doing so.

It is important for all of us to give ourselves credit where we deserve it and build on the points that we feel weak on. This work that we have to do isn’t always gratifying, in fact, most nights we are ripping our hair out and questioning our life choices while more caffeine than should be legally allowed is coursing through our veins, but it’s important to remember that we are capable. Not only that, but most of the time the work you submit is fantastic.

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