College and The Old

Last week I started my first week at Tech.  I was really amazed at how much younger everyone was than me, including a few of my instructors. 

I realize that most people tend to go to college right out of high school and don't wait to get a clue until they are 30, but still.  To a certain extent, colleges cater to the young.  Trust me, I wish that I had done this at 18. 

I fully plan on having the college experience that I missed out on by not going at 18.  No, I'm not going to go out and party and sleep around like the people who typically go to this university are known for.  My husband might not approve.  I am going to try to get involved, and do things that I typically wouldn't do.  Isn't that what college is about too?  Not just getting an education, but experiences.  Am I going to be the oldest one there?  Probably so.  As long as no one mistakes me for their mother, then I'm good.

I'm amazed at how few people I see over the age of 22.  I have two instructors who are older than me.  One who is only older by 2 years, the other has kids around 18.  On one hand I think it's discriminating, on the other hand I think it's sad.

Why shouldn't people, irregardless of age not go back to school?  Is it intimidating?  Absolutely.  Especially for someone like me who doesn't like to talk to strangers.  I don't do well with people I don't know.  I don't do well speaking in front of large groups of people I don't know.  Heck, I don't even do well if I do know them.  In some of my smaller classes, I will probably warm up enough to them to be comfortable with talking to a few of them by the time the class is done.  Yet, here I am. 

I've also decided that I'm going to set a goal for every week.  Something that won't kill me, even though I'm sure it will, yet something that will get me out of my comfort zone.  I need to get over this fear that what I have to say isn't important, because in a sense, I'm saying that I'm not important.  And we all know that isn't true.  My opinions are just as important as the person sitting next to me, and the one across the room.  None of us wants to sound stupid.  So this week, I'm going to voluntarily participate in a discussion.  If you don't see another post then, apparently my comment about it not killing me wasn't as accurate as I had hoped.  I may be older than all of the people in my classes, but I have wisdom that comes with age, and my own life experiences.  They can learn something from me, just like I can learn something from them.

Even if I am old.