dealing with imposter syndrome

[BWilkes]

Good afernoon ya'll,

I'm new to this forum and am excited to share experiences on the long road to nursing school and beyond.This first post is coming from a place of "oh god! Do I even belong here??" So here it goes; I am currently finishing my pre-reqs for nursing school and am 1 semester away from applying. For some reason this semester has been particularly challenging, and my self esteem as a student has never been this low. I have been an honor student throughout my college career but, AP 2 is kicking my butt. I have study schedule, flash cards, videos, the works but my grades are not at all where I want them to be. Nursing is what I want to do with my life, but I cant help but think "what am I doing wrong?" I would love to learn some tips for getting through this last stretch, and shaking these feelings.

Thanks!

[yenool, BSN]

Just because something is hard, doesn't mean you don't belong. It just means that it's hard! It's probably safe to say that every pre-nursing student has struggled with at least one class, so give yourself some grace. As far as doing well in AP 2.. If you're doing all the things you think you should be, it's time to go to your professor. Ask them what you're missing, ask questions about things you're struggling with, etc.

[tillymarie]

Do you have a study group? I was blessed to have awesome study groups for Anatomy, Physiology and Micro. We are all busy going to school full time and most of us working part time, so we didn't have a lot of time to meet up but we did constantly quiz each other via text etc. Any little bit helps.

[NurseChapelLovesSpock, BSN]

Sometimes no matter how much effort you put into a class, you still come up short. It could be the teacher's class style or how points are calculated for a certain class or any number of factors.

It is possible to do everything right in terms of studying and being a really good student and still do poorly on a test or in a class. It's frustrating, I had the same experience in Microbiology, I worked SO hard and felt so discouraged getting C's back on exams. It's like, what the hell is the point of this then??

Take respite in the fact that you are doing your absolute best and try to let go of the attachment to being an "honor" student, it will make the lows a bit easier to bounce back from.

Good luck with everything, it WILL work out!