Legitimately a Mom
I just completed one of my required courses in the NYU-SCPS Career Management program where I am working towards a certificate in Career Management. Our instructor had us to do a practice exercise where we were paired with another student, and one person was the career counselor and one was the client. Each group paired off and after 30 minutes of working one-on -one, we rejoined the larger group to discuss our findings.
What we discovered was fascinating. Nearly everyone shared a universal fear of not feeling "legitimate". Of course we are all learning how to be career coaches, and are new at it, but many of the people in the class have fabulous careers already and are successful by any measuring stick. Still, no matter how competent everybody appeared, they still felt that they lacked legitimacy because they hadn't practiced career coaching officially yet. Our instructor had us list what makes someone seem legitimate--answers included having a website; business cards; or writing articles or books.
This legitimacy issue reminded me of how I felt as a new mother. I was pretty young when my daughter was born, and had never even changed a diaper until I had her. She was a healthy 7 lb. 10 oz. baby girl and I was the happiest new mother. The evening that she was born, my hospital room was filled with friends and new grandparents and it was a real party.
The next morning, however, my baby spiked a fever and had to be rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I went from elated to terrified. The doctors came in to talk to us about the potential issues and I was lost. I looked to my mother for all of the answers. I remember thinking how could I possible make any decisions about my baby's care? I am 25 years old and know nothing about babies or being a mother. I felt like a fraud and couldn't believe that the doctor was engaging me in these decisions.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati