Welcome to Gaia! ::

Americans spend the best part of one's lives earning money and degrees in order to enjoy a questionable liberty at the least valuable part of it.

When I first started school, I thought it was a bit strange and preferred to work mostly with people my age, but I found that the "non-traditionally aged" students were much more pleasant to work with because they were often more serious about their education. I know all cases are different, but in general (at least at my school) the people my age were spoiled rich kids being paid for by their parents who didn't take many of our classes seriously, whereas the older folks were there paying out of their own pockets and therefore worked harder. I was a TA my Junior year during the summer session for one of my major's most notoriously difficult classes, and because of the time of year, many of my students were older, and they were SO much more attentive than the ones my age, and their grades reflected that. My only negative experience with an older student was a lab partner I had in one class...she never seemed to take me seriously because I was younger than her and kind of had an attitude, but she must have just been insecure or something (or maybe I was no better than the other punk kids my age haha)...!

I can only tell you one thing about my situation, and that is flirting with people my own age is much easier. What else is the classroom good for? dramallama dramallama dramallama

As long as they are quiet, I don't care. Most of the students are 18-21. I am turning 25 next month and already have a kid. Not much relate-able between my classmates and me. It is terrible because my teachers usually assume I am 18 since I look young, so they often think I am not that serious about my education. gonk

how old are you? because that defines what you're saying here.

It's sometimes a little awkward in classes where the students interact with eachother more. If an older, say 25 to 35 year old man, is in the class there will surely be 19-23 year olds flirting with him even if he's already married. It was awkward going to lab sessions and having to endure listening to it.

Otherwise, it's alright. I haven't went to school with her, but a female mentor in one of our nearby college ministries went back to school to complete a nursing degree. She graduated with psychology and went into counseling, and then decided to go a different route later in life (I think she was around 30 when she went back). She seemed really happy about her decision, so I can imagine that going to classes with her and getting to know her personally would have been great.

For one of my gen-ed classes, there was a women there as well who was in her 30s. I think she had a child in elementary school already; she had well thought-out perspectives during discussion and she could relate it back to her own experiences. Compared to other students there, in their 18-24 range, she was more down to earth and lacking the ego that younger students immediately entering a four year university have.