"By the way, how old are you?" A comment that made me, a 30-year-old first-time university student, feel a little happy
Hello, everyone.
I am
@GoodMorning, an HSP and anti-Todai advocate.
I first entered university when I was 30 years old.
I didn't "re-enter university at 30."
At 30, I became a university student for the first time.
Generally, I think many people enter university around the age of 18 after graduating from high school.
My case was different.
It took me quite a long time to get into university.
So for me, the age of "30" was not just a number.
There were various conflicts leading up to that point.
And even after entering university,
"I am different from the students around me"
I think I was conscious of that somewhere.
A question arose during a math lecture
After entering university, I started taking math lectures.
While listening to the class, I would sometimes think,
"What does this mean?"
I had questions.
So, I used the professor's office hours to go and ask questions.
Office hours are times when students can visit a professor's office or similar to ask questions about the class.
I asked the professor a question about something I was wondering about while listening to the lecture.
The professor seemed a little impressed by my question.
And in the middle of our conversation, he suddenly asked me this.
"By the way, how old are you?"
For a moment, I braced myself.
When I was asked this question, I felt a bit conflicted.
Looking back now, I think the professor might have just asked it casually.
But for me at the time, age was a very sensitive issue.
I am 30 years old.
There are many students around me who are 18 or 19 years old.
They are more than 10 years younger than me.
That is why,
"Why are you in university at 30?"
I think I was afraid somewhere deep down that people would think that.
There are reasons why I didn't enter university until I was 30.
I had various struggles as well.
I took a long way around.
That is why,
"How old are you?"
I was sensitive even to that single phrase.
But it was a little different
However, watching the professor's reaction, it didn't seem to be in the sense I had feared.
The professor had heard my math question just before that.
And he was impressed by that question.
On top of that,
"By the way, how old are you?"
he asked.
That was when I felt something a little different.
Perhaps the professor
"This student is a little different from the others"
felt that way about me.
Of course, only the professor knows the truth.
But that's how it felt to me.
And that made me a little happy.
It wasn't "Even though you're 30"
What I was afraid of was
"You're 30 and you're a university student?"
the look that implied that.
But what I felt at that moment was a little different from that.
Rather than being looked at strangely because of my age,
I was happy that they took an interest in me, the person asking the question about mathematics.
That was how it felt.
I didn't go out of my way to say,
"Well, due to various circumstances, I'm 30 and just started university..."
I didn't explain it like that.
I simply attended the lecture,
had a question,
and went to ask the professor.
Seeing that, the professor took an interest and asked,
"How old are you?"
That made me happy.
Everyone has a different starting point
When you are at a university, on the surface, everyone is a "university student."
We take the same lectures.
We take the same exams.
We submit the same reports.
But the paths we took to get there are not the same.
Some people entered at 18.
Some people entered after taking a gap year.
Everyone has their own story.
There are people who entered university after having work experience.
And there are people like me, who entered university for the first time at the age of 30.
Even if we sit in the same classroom, the lives we have walked until now are different for each person.
At the time, I tended to perceive that difference as,
"I am the only one falling behind"
rather than anything else.
However, a professor's comment gave me a slightly different perspective.
Precisely because we come from different places, we may have different questions.
Precisely because we have had different experiences, we may perceive the lessons differently.
The difference in age may not necessarily be just a "delay."
Having lived until 30 and sitting there
Looking back, I feel I understand a little why I was happy.
I was not happy because,
"my age of 30 was seen through."
That is not why I was happy.
I felt that the person I am—someone who experienced various things until 30 and finally arrived in a university classroom—was discovered, if only a little.
I think that was the feeling I had.
The professor does not know my life up to that point.
They do not know what I thought about or what struggles I went through to be sitting in that classroom.
Even so, upon hearing my question,
"This student is a bit different."
If that is what they thought of me,
that alone was enough for me at the time.
"By the way, how old are you?"
Time has passed since then.
The details of what I asked in that math lecture have become hazy.
But,
"By the way, how old are you?"
I remember the professor's words.
To some, it might be an insignificant remark.
But for me, it was different.
I was a first-year university student, self-conscious about being 30.
I was someone who worried about being different from those around me.
For someone like me,
"You are a bit different from the other students."
I felt as if that was what they were saying to me.
That is why,
I felt a little happy.
These moments happen in life sometimes.
Perhaps the other person said it without thinking.
However, it stays with the person who was told it forever.
For me,
"By the way, how old are you?"
is one such comment.
What do you think?
If you'd like,
I would appreciate your support through likes, comments, and follows🍀
@Good morning was the message.
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