Having Difficulties Fitting In

[hopsfalling]

I am not sure where else to turn, so I am posting here. I am a first year vet student and I am having trouble fitting in. I seriously feel like a complete idiot in my class and that everyone around me is so much smarter. I am having trouble keeping up with where everyone else is and it is making me feel like I can't do this. Aside from that, I am not feeling confident and I know others can see it. Is anyone else having this problem? I hate the way this feels...

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[godless]

I am not sure where else to turn, so I am posting here. I am a first year vet student and I am having trouble fitting in. I seriously feel like a complete idiot in my class and that everyone around me is so much smarter. I am having trouble keeping up with where everyone else is and it is making me feel like I can't do this. Aside from that, I am not feeling confident and I know others can see it. Is anyone else having this problem? I hate the way this feels...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome
http://gradschool.about.com/od/survivinggraduateschool/a/impostor.htm

in med school we call it the impostor syndrome and it's typical for 1st semester students to have. it will pass. just make sure you focus on studying so you can do well and make those feelings go away.

 

[No Imagination]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome
http://gradschool.about.com/od/survivinggraduateschool/a/impostor.htm

in med school we call it the impostor syndrome and it's typical for 1st semester students to have. it will pass. just make sure you focus on studying so you can do well and make those feelings go away.

That's me...

dismissing success as simply luck, good timing, or perseverance

to OP: I would love to say they go away with time, but as a 4th year I am convinced that it will be the NAVLE that takes me down. With that said, you get used to it.

 

[jmo1012]

just know that a lot of them feel exactly the same way! my favorite little story about this is 1st week of anatomy, my group of 4 was going around naming all the little parts and processes etc on the bones and here i am sitting there thinking oh my gosh, how do they already know all this? how are they already this far ahead? i'm still stuck on directional terms!!! and yet at the end of the semester, i know i ended up doing better in the class than they did (and i was terrible at anatomy!), and when we'd go over things together later, things would be shakier and less concrete as they first seemed.

will you always have people that dont need to study much, can ace every exam, and party all the time? absolutely. but most of your classmates are working very hard to put up the image that they are like the smarty pants top few.

i watched shock and relief flood the faces of the new first years a couple of weeks ago when they were asking me questions about anatomy and i joked that for the first 3 weeks i came home every night and cried about anatomy and it was a pouring out of ME TOO!! they were so relieved to hear that someone had survived anatomy with those feelings and to discover that their classmates were feeling the same way (i thought one of the girls was going to cry right then and there she was so stressed out about the course already!)

also, my first semester, coming away from an exam you would think that most to all of the class got As on every exam the way a certain few would boast. yet, when you looked at averages and such, that was not the case!

focus on your work and how you are doing, because at the end of the day you're answering to your knowledge bank as a veterinarian. you were smart enough to get where you are, you're smart enough and capable enough of getting through. vet school is hard!! it has the tendency to eat your soul, make you want to cry, steal your common sense, and make you just a tad bit more crazy than you were in the first place. but the great thing is that everyone is suffering right along side you, even if they're pretending like they aren't.

 

[katryn]

Couldn't have said it better myself jmo. Plenty of other people feel the same way, and you do at least learn to function with it. Even the people out there who don't feel that way all the time will have one or two classes that make them feel that way. I was dead certain that pharmacology and anesthesia were going to fail me last year, and I consider myself to be a pretty smart cookie. Frankly, the NAVLE terrifies me.

 

[elefante7]

I second everything that has been said so far.

Also, remember that you haven't gotten to know everyone yet. I guarantee that there are some really awesome people in your class that are feeling like you are feeling also. Until you meet them, however, finding someone in the school that isn't a student to talk to. Most schools will have a counseling service available, but it could also just be a professor that you like. It will feel good to get things off your chest, and whoever you talk to will have seen other students go through this many times and might have some words of advice.

 

[Emiloo4]

I would also maybe suggest stopping the comparisons of yourself to others. As long as you get through vet school, it doesn't really matter what anyone else is doing. Who cares about everyone else's grades and intelligence. You belong there, and as long as you focus on yourself and not worry about where you stand compared to other people, you will do fine. Your classmates' grades don't mean diddly squat. Do the very best that YOU can do and be proud of what you accomplish.

 

[BitrSwt]

I know what you mean. The place I was at for vet school didnt care about student success. The professors were more concerned about their research and it was very hard to get questions answered from them - it was typically 3 or 4 days before they would meet with me.

On top of that, some of my classmates were very mean to me...and it really got to me. DONT give up!! Stay positive! Dont be afraid to go to a therapist - most schools have someone you can talk to. Surround your self with positive people and not people that will bring you down.

All of that affected me so much that I failed a few classes - so Im in the process of changing vet schools which I think is going to be a better fit for me and my learning style.

Just know that others have been in your situation and stay positive and dont be afraid to ask for help!

 

[Nekkid]

I know what you mean. The place I was at for vet school didnt care about student success. The professors were more concerned about their research and it was very hard to get questions answered from them - it was typically 3 or 4 days before they would meet with me.

On top of that, some of my classmates were very mean to me...and it really got to me. DONT give up!! Stay positive! Dont be afraid to go to a therapist - most schools have someone you can talk to. Surround your self with positive people and not people that will bring you down.

All of that affected me so much that I failed a few classes - so Im in the process of changing vet schools which I think is going to be a better fit for me and my learning style.

Just know that others have been in your situation and stay positive and dont be afraid to ask for help!

Failed one class?...ok, maybe it was the prof or your classmates getting you down. Several classes? No way. Be honest with yourself-you failed youself by not giving it 100%. If you got into vet school, you are smart enough. You just need to put the work in this time and not let your personal/social interactions with profs and other students become a problem. Just keep your head down and keep on going.