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Sent to my department on 20171124, a nice write up on imposter syndrome:

Dear E-techs,

I have observed several of you falling victim to a problem that is prevalent in all technical fields: the nagging thought that you are a fraud. If you have ever had the thought, "if only the crew knew that I have no idea what I am doing! That repair was by shear accident!" - then this applies to you.

This phenomenon actually has a name it is known as imposter syndrome. The

Wikipedia article

has this to say:

The impostor syndrome tends to be studied as a reaction to certain stimuli and events. It is not perceived to be a mental disorder, but it has been the topic of research for many psychologists...

Signs and symptoms

Impostor experience can take form differently for everyone. Here are common signs that someone may be experiencing feeling like an impostor.

Perfectionism Overworking Undermining your achievements Fear of
failure Discounting praise

Impostor experience can present itself through thoughts such as:

"I must not fail" "I feel like a fake" "I just got lucky"

Impostor experience is a common phenomenon.

"I have written 11 books, but each time I think, 'Uh oh, they're going to find out now. I've run a game on everybody, and they're going to find me out.'" -

Maya Angelou

The point I want to make is this: you are not alone in feeling this way. It plagued me and many other techs in the past. The reality of the situation is that you are the tech god of location. There is no one more qualified to perform fixes on the electronics out there. Yes, it is a learning process, but every victory you have is yours alone. If you seek help in solving a problem, your actions, your hands are what did the work, your decision to make a phone call got you the information. You accomplished the fix. You absorbed the solution and integrated it into your process for next time. You're all doing a fantastic job out there, and we are very glad you came on board.

This feels-based-moment was brought to you by Team E-Tech, who reminds you that you did not have to join the best department in , but you know you're glad you did.

-- Leveck