New Student's Growing Imposter Syndrome Stupid And Lame Compared To Friends' More Valid and Better Imposter Syndrome

Last night, a semi-circle of freshmen shared their most vulnerable feelings of insecurity, doubt, homesickness, and imposter syndrome right outside McClelland Dining and Sushi. Yet, in the freshmen tradition of late-night trauma dumping on friends they had only met a week before, it became apparent that one student’s imposter syndrome was incredibly stupid and lame when compared to the others’ more valid and cool imposter syndrome. Like, why were they even in the circle? They literally don’t belong here.

The others’ imposter syndromes made sense. Melissa Waters (C '27) felt insecure because it seems everyone she met was President of the Model UN team in high school just like her. Jacob Gray (W ’27) feels similar because he already met a few students who created a start-up almost identical to what he thought was a novel idea: stealing his diabetic sibling’s insulin and selling it for profit. In a rigorous and elite institution such as Penn, the things we once thought made us great and special suddenly no longer seem so important. 

But not for this kid. This kid actually sucks. Their imposter syndrome is completely undeserved and they know it. “Why do you feel insecure?”, Waters was reported to have asked them. Sources tell us the freshman simply mumbled and stuttered, eventually breaking down and running back to their room in the Quad Tunnels under Riepe.