Have you ever been so overwhelmed by self doubt that it paralyzed you? Or maybe rather than becoming stagnant, you played the part of the person you wanted and expected yourself to be, but deep in inside you were someone very different. Imposter syndrome is a psychological term referring to a pattern of behavior where people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.

Jessica and I went to school together at Bernardo Yorba Middle School and Esperanza High School. I thought I knew Jessica well, she was in many of my classes. But what I thought I knew was very different from the person she hid inside. This is part I of Jessica’s interview.