Dean David M. Edelstein
Photography courtesy of Dean Edelstein
If you’re reading this, know that you belong here.
Wherever you came from and however you got here, you belong here every bit as much as anybody else who is here. On occasion, we all suffer from imposter syndrome–that gnawing feeling that we are frauds, undeserving of whatever position we have achieved in life. That feeling can be corrosive, seeding doubt into all of the work that we do and leading us to question whether we are good enough to be where we are.
Resist imposter syndrome. Find strength in the community around you who affirm the value of your presence at a place like Georgetown. Recognize that many in our community are likely suffering from the same sense of being an imposter. Lean on each other, and everybody will benefit as a result.
Draw on your many past accomplishments to bolster your confidence. Finish something that seems relatively easy to build the muscles to take on something harder. And take on those harder tasks with focus and enthusiasm. Success generates success, and success will erode that sense that you do not belong. And even if you do not succeed at first, know that your perseverance will generate rewards.
And please know that your faculty want nothing more than for you to feel as if you belong here. Our classrooms are made more interesting and robust because of the presence of people from different backgrounds and with different experiences, and we count on you to contribute to classroom dialogues and discussions. Georgetown is not Georgetown without you.
You belong here, and Georgetown is a better place because you are here.
Dean Edelstein, Georgetown University
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