Student Profile: Giselle Aviles

By: Eliquetzal Gutierrez

Doubt, fear and failure: only a few of the hardships of a professional. Many of us adopt the attitude of “fake it ‘til you make it” to convince ourselves that we should pretend until we are qualified. Today this can be related to the reality of “imposter syndrome.” In simple terms, imposter syndrome is when a person doubts their abilities and feels like a fraud. According to Forbes Business magazine, 1 in 3 Americans suffer from imposter syndrome; 46% of those professionals are between the age of 18-24 and women are 5% more likely to feel this way than men. Furthermore, these feelings of inadequacy are actively present in the professional lives of many first generation college students, particularly people of color or minorities who carry a less than ideal background. 

One of The Reach Foundation’s Fellows, Giselle Aviles, will share her most recent experience as she grapples with feelings of inadequacy after landing an internship at Stanford University. Giselle is wrapping up her freshman year at Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills, California. She is a first generation college student of Latinx and Hispanic heritage. The thought of applying to an internship at such an accredited school was beyond her wildest imagination. Nonetheless, there is help and there are people who are invested in the success of first generation students. 

Giselle reached out to the SLI (Science Learning Institute) at her community college and her Reach Foundation mentor, Rama Balakrishnan. The SLI and Rama helped Giselle find internship opportunities and played a role in pushing Giselle to complete the application. In Giselle’s words, “She [Rama] was with me until I finished the application!”. With such support, Giselle took the plunge out of her comfort zone and the results would change the next year of her life. Feeling super unqualified due to her GPA, she applied anyway and was accepted to the internship. 

This past summer, Giselle had the amazing opportunity to work in a chemistry lab at Stanford University. The internship lasted about a month until she was offered a position to stay for a year as an undergraduate researcher. Those at Stanford saw a high achieving, hard working and capable persona in Giselle. Yet, the effects of the imposter syndrome are real as she is still baffled by her position at a prestigious university, the fear of being discovered as someone who doesn’t belong. She feels as though her background and GPA do not match the expectations of Stanford, the lack of confidence in her qualifications are what almost kept her from applying. 

Nonetheless, as Giselle and many high achieving and determined students soon learn, there are risks worth taking even when we are afraid of rejection. Giselle, like many who feel inexperienced, is still clueless as to how she was accepted but has learned a valuable lesson. When asked what piece of advice she desires to share, she urged students, “Don’t let your GPA define the opportunities you apply to.”

As we put Giselle’s advice into practice we must seek out and use resources available to us, search for opportunities to pursue and give our all. After all, the path to becoming a successful professional is one in which we must be willing to take those frightening steps, maybe even fall but learn as we become better throughout this life’s journey of becoming increasingly greater than we were yesterday. 

Forbes Business Magazine article, mentioned above. 

Inspired by Giselle’s story, get involved! Go to The Reach Foundation to learn how you can help stellar students like Giselle.