By Chloe Halpin
We have all heard the phrase “fake it till you make it”, but what does that actually mean?
For many college students, some days, confidence can feel out of reach. Especially when a grade doesn’t reflect your effort, when making new friends feels harder than expected or when comparison creeps in. Confidence can feel like a foreign concept altogether. Like something people are born with, or that you could buy in a store. Confidence doesn’t work like that. It takes time.
It’s something you slowly train your brain to understand, that you are so much bigger than your insecurities or mistakes. This doesn’t mean ignoring self-doubt, but rather not letting it take control. Instead of being so consumed by everything you think you lack, confidence asks you to search for the positives.
If you don’t get the job, or maybe you’re unhappy with your grades, or that one person you look for seemingly never looks for you, confidence allows you to acknowledge that, regardless of what cards you are dealt, that you are in control.
Like most things in college, confidence is almost like a learning opportunity; not every setback means failure, maybe it’s redirection. Just because something doesn’t go as you may have hoped does not diminish your growth or worth.
To embody confidence is to show up scared, nervous or anxious. To speak even while your voice shakes.
You don’t need to become someone new to be confident. You just need to stop shrinking who you already are