Imposter Syndrome and other confessions of Alejandra Kim

YA fiction 

     I think many of us have experienced or are experiencing imposter syndrome:  the feeling of not really being qualified to be somewhere, the fear of being exposed.  When I started graduate school it took me awhile to internalize my program's mantra:  if you're here you belong here.  Patricia Park's Imposter Syndrome and other confessions of Alexandra Kim, inspired by her own struggles with it, shows readers that this feeling of not really belonging can start very early in life.  

     Alejandra's Korean grandparents had been trying to immigrate to the United States but had been diverted to Argentina.  It was her parents who completed the journey.  Now she commutes between two different worlds: her pricey private school that prides itself on diversity and inclusion and her neighborhood where nobody bothers with "political correctness."

     Ironically school is where Alejandra experiences a life changing microaggression.  A famous author, Jonathan Brooks James, has been hired to teach her writing class.  When he sees her name on the attendance sheet he quips, "Talk about multi-culti.  You'll have no trouble getting into college."

     "Oh, no, he didn't.

     Wait, did he?

     My cheeks are on fire.

     But he says it in that off-the-cuff, snarky hipster Am I rite? way which makes me feel uncool if I don't laugh along.

     So I laugh along."

     Alejandra decides it's no big deal, especially where in the larger world people are experiencing much worse suffering than microaggressions.  Her affluent, white best friend, Laurel, disagrees.

     "'Ally, that was such a microaggression!' Laurel fumes.'  'It's like asking an African American man if he's good at basketball, or a Chinese American if they live in Chinatown.'"

      She starts a petition to have Brooks fired.  He ends up quitting rather than go to mandated sensitivity training.  Alejandra is not a happy camper.

     "'Laurel,' I say, 'the guy lost his job.  Over your petition.'  As awkward as things were beginning to get in JBJ's class, I could have just ridden it out for the rest of the year.  We could have learned to uncomfortably coexist.'"

     Then things get worse.  There's a diversity assembly where

     "Then, to my horror and humiliation and holy-shit-I-can't-believe-she's-actually-going-there, Laurel tells the whole audience about what JBJ said to me in class.

     It was bad enough that JBJ had to say it in front of the whole class.  Now Laurel repeats his words to the entire school."

     Alejandra's home life is not exactly a bed of roses.  Her father has recently died in an accident that may not have been an accident.  She and her widowed mom, who works unpredictable hours as a home health aid, are rarely in the house at the same time.  When this happens they clash.

     She will have to soon reveal a secret that will probably make her mother go ballistic.  She's applying to her long term dream school, a prestigious liberal arts college in Maine.  Her father had been the one to encourage her to dream big.  Her mother has told her that she will not attend a college outside of New York.

     Imposter Syndrome and other confessions of Alejandra Kim is a highly relatable and engaging read for anyone, teen or adult, who has ever struggled to figure out where they belong.

On a purrrsonal note, I made it to two hours today.  I let myself have pop tarts.  I'm giving up on sugar cutting just for the duration of my ultrasound prep as a motivation to stick with it.  It's a grey on and off rainy 🌧 day.  So I probably won't know if community garden is on until the very last minute.  It's lucky I have an amazing cat companion to keep me on an even keel emotion wise.  (Jules)

I knew what I was doing when I chose her.  We needed each other.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our very supportive family and friends ❤️ 😀 😊 💜 💙.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

   

     

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