One of the easiest things I have done in my life is return to college at 32 years of age with a 7-year gap from the last course I completed. After spending almost a decade of my life in the military, one would think that transitioning to school full time without having to get up and go to a day job would be easy. Not having to wake up at the crack of dawn to go to a job that one really isn’t happy with is a wonderful thing. However, being the oldest in my classes, even older than some of my professors, makes attending class fairly awkward. The social aspect with my peers due to the age difference is quite complex in itself. For one, when speaking to classmates some appear to not even be of age and old enough to attend these classes in college. It really makes me feel like “that guy”, the old fart going through a midlife crisis. I have traveled around the world, been to war, married, divorced, and have a daughter of my own that is in middle school. I own my own home as well as small business. My day to day chores vary greatly in comparison to that of most of my classmates. All in all, keeping up with the young bucks in my classes is by far the simplest tasking I have encountered thus far in my life.
Some of my classmates were attending school the year prior to being in class today, therefore, the material is fresh. Essentially, I am having to work twice as hard to remember and reteach myself material that is second nature to them. Google and YouTube have become my best friend for academic help. I had to go as far as watching a video on YouTube to learn how to properly use my calculator to find square roots. Meanwhile, my classmates are answering the square roots as well as other algebra problems without ever looking down at their calculator. In my English class, I have classmates that are able to decipher an essay with ease. However, for myself I read these essays, take in what I have read with a good understanding of what was written but I am unable to pick the essay apart rhetorically. I have opinions of what I read and a new profound look on the topic that was covered which makes me feel accomplished. Being able to proofread an essay seems to come with ease for my classmates, however I struggle greatly with this. Once again I can read a few sentences and only discover one or two errors whereas my classmates will find a dozen or more. This causes me to both laugh as well as question the ability my previous English teachers had to teach me.
Homework is just as I remembered in high school, short and straightforward is how I believed it would be. However, long hours are spent trying to complete some of what appears to be simple assignments. I have seen fellow classmates complete these assignments within the 20 minutes before class begins, the same assignment that I spent over two hours the night before trying to complete. At times it makes me wonder if I am amongst geniuses in all of my classes and this was done purposely to cause me to work harder to keep up with these young guns. I have become accustomed to juggling things like household chores, repairs, upgrades, lawn care as well as quarterly taxes for my business unlike homework. All these things that seemed easy before I started doing homework on a daily basis. So I find myself bouncing back and forth throughout the day or evening between a chore and assignment, trying to find a happy balance between the two so that I do not fall behind with either.
My outlook on life also is considerably different in comparison to my younger classmates. For some they have only begun to see life and what it has to offer while some would say I have lived a lifetime already. I’ve witnessed some of the more horrific things that one can see as well as seen some of the beautiful things that cannot be described by an amateur writer. Some of the wonderful adult tasks of life that weigh on my shoulders vary greatly in comparison to my young classmates. These young whipper snappers are experiencing things like Ghostbusters and Mission Impossible for the first time while I was there from the beginning. Nothing compares to the first time you see Dan Akroyd suck up a ghost. My worries are far more extravagant on a daily basis than for some, more like Indiana Jones reaching the temple of doom rather than Nemo finding his father.
My gray hairs are far from an indication of me being just the “old guy” in class. They represent a life that I lived that my classmates are just beginning. Life essentially has brought us together at this point in time. There are many things I can share about life with these young bucks as well as many things they can share with me, like how to play beer pong with strategy. I could serve to learn a few things from the light saber toting students in the recreation center to battle professors for good grades like Luke Skywalker against dark forces. The struggles I face daily to be able to attend college at this point in my life are no laughing matter, although I occasionally make jokes about it to lighten the mood just as I would make jokes while in country and at war. Each day I push myself to work harder than the day before to maintain my grades, to be successful in class like my younger classmates. I worked for a long time and worked hard to be able to be here today. I have a lot of pride in being in school today, in a sense it is my current job and my job is to be taken seriously. I may be the “old guy” in class sometimes but I’ll always feel as cool as Maverick and Goose when I arrive at my seat, sometimes you have to keep upforeign relations amongst the age groups.
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