Welcome Back Into the Unknown!

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Avery Adams and I am the Graduate Assistant for the Masters of Public Administration department. This space is where I will be sharing chats with alumni, NKU and MPA resources, and my own experiences as an MPA student! Feel free to send me any questions/comments or blog ideas you would like to see.

With that being said, here is to the first one!

Every August (or January or May), you enter into the unknown while you are a student. You may have going to school down to science at this point, but you still have to adjust to a new routine, new people, and new material. This can make you feel stretched thin and overwhelmed at the start, and maybe, throughout the entire semester. 

For myself specifically, I am suffering from a little bit of imposter syndrome as I embark on this new journey that is graduate school, resulting in these feelings of being overwhelmed and stretched thin.  If you are sharing these feelings, I hope this blog post finds you well, whether this is your first semester of the MPA program or your last few classes! 

I graduated from Wittenberg University in May of 2022 with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. If I am being honest, it still feels surreal. I spent the entire summer wondering if that ACTUALLY happened to me and questioning if I was prepared for this next step. This feeling only continued as I sat in my very first class on Tuesday night. I heard these amazing stories of where my classmates were in their careers - they had "fancy" titles, seemed deserving of their accolades, and were looking at what to they wanted to do next (hence more school). And this is not to diminish any of that! Every single person in that room worked extremely hard to get where they are in their professional and personal life.  

This is around the time I realized that I needed to cut myself some slack and stop doubting my abilities to learn and apply. I know that I want to succeed, but I also need to remember that it is okay to fail to a certain degree as long as I continue to work hard and keep my mind open. I made a couple promises to myself that I really think will help combat these feelings of doubt:  

1) Stop comparing. Use your time here as a student to listen and learn, not as a board to show who is up and who is down.  

2) Learn from others. They will also be learning something from you! 

3) Do not hold back! Imposter syndrome makes you doubt your abilities and impacts your confidence, but do not let it change your goals. You set those goals for a reason.

 

Imposter syndrome can happen at any time to anyone, and you may never know that someone is feeling the same way. To help foster a healthy and supportive learning environment in the MPA program, and at NKU as a whole, here are some important tidbits to remember: 

1) Recognize everyone is here to learn

2) Be supportive of the goals of others

3) Listen to your classmates experiences and share your own

The student organization for the MPA program, PASS, would be a great resource to connect with and support your fellow classmates. Here is the link to the interest form: PASS Interest Form

Being a student is making the most of the time you are given and knowing that if you do not think you are where you need to be, to ask for help. There are some wonderful advisors and mentors within the MPA to help guide you and support you!

Lastly, I wanted to provide campus resources in case you ever want to talk to someone about how you are feeling. Here is the link to the NKU Health, Counseling, and Student Wellness page where you can find mental health resources and schedule appointments with professionals. https://inside.nku.edu/hcsw.html