Fake It 'Till You Make It by Mairead

Fake It 'Till You Make It by Mairead - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

I’ve never been a firm believer in the maxim “Fake it ‘till you make it,” which implores people to fake confidence until they achieve their goal. I’ve always thought that no confidence is better than false confidence. However, I’ve realized that I’ve been approaching the saying the wrong way. ‘Fake it ‘till you make it’ isn’t about faking confidence and tricking everyone around you, but rather refers tricking yourself until you are confident, not just until you look it.
In the classroom, confidence can be everything. From second guessing an answer on a test to being too shy to offer an opinion during a class discussion, low self-confidence can damage an academic career. This year, to become a better, more involved student, the kind that jumps at the opportunity to present in front of the class or loves to share her essay prompt responses, I’ve topped the first page of my badly decorated journal with the resolution to fake it ‘till I make it.
However, even fake confidence can be hard to come by, and every resolution is easier said than done. I won’t walk into school tomorrow and suddenly be a public speaking whiz or be a leader in a class debate, simply because I wrote this resolution on a page. I can, however, start small by sharing my work in my literature class or speaking up in my period 6-7 Spanish class. Eventually, as I do these little things more frequently, they’ll become easier, and I’ll be ‘making it’.
Even though I don’t feel confident now, at the start of January, with my New Year’s Resolution resolution to make small, assertive actions, I’ll become a better student, one who won’t let any academic opportunities pass her by.