6 month + hands-on experience should get you very close to level playing field.
It been said that 1 year is enough to become an expert in any field having enough focusing and persistence.
What important in this is not their attitudes. It's your attitude on stuff that surrounds you.
If you believe that you need to call yourself dumb and punish yourself with thoughts and feelings of guilt while being surrounded with people who has more experience in certain fields - that's your belief/attitude.
It does not need to be this way - but it's your decision whether it is something that you are benefiting from and whether it make sense to change your attitutes|belief|definitions toward certain things.