by Mark Browning

Created on: January 04, 2007   Last Updated: September 10, 2009

What you must remember as an older student is simple. First, you're not 18. Second, you're not 18. Allow me to explain.
There's a great benefit to not being 18 in a college classroom. Let's say that you're 40 or 30 or even just 25. Those extra years make a difference. Yes, you've started to grow hair in places where you didn't want it, but there are some significant advantages to age.

I can't tell you how many times, in my nearly 20 years of teaching English at a community college, I have seen this story play out. A 30-something woman walks into class on the first day. Her husband of 10 years has abandoned her and the kids. She has no education, no job history, nothing. She's feeling worthless and hopelessly outclassed by the teens around her. She fumbles through the first few weeks of the semester, dreading the painful mistake that she knows she's bound to make. And then, somewhere in mid-term, she wakes up one morning and says, "Hey, I can do this." From there on, she can't be stopped.
What advantage does the 30-something have over the 18-year-old? How about 20 years of experience? Think about it. Most teens have very little knowledge or experience when it comes to how the world really works. Paying a portion of a car insurance bill does not make one a master of economics. Navigating high school social scenes does not really teach much about sociology. The typical college student really knows very little of a practical nature, and yet they think they know a great deal. Perhaps that's why we call second-year students "sophomores" or "wise fools."
The older student, even one who hasn't been around much, has a great deal more experience to draw upon. They know about presidents before Bush. They realize that Paris Hilton is really not important to this world. Having understood a variety of things, they have many, many more points of reference and comparison in the world. This helps them learn and it helps them express that learning.
The older student also has, hopefully, developed a work ethic. Some traditional students have figured out that hard work and good habits lead to good outcomes, but most of them need to learn a great deal about how to work. I can't overstate the number of my students who postpone, delay, and whine over their work. Older students tend to get an assignment and get it done. They tend to think it's going to be harder than it will actually be. They tend to think that it needs to be better than it needs to be. These are all very good traits.
The world of the older student, however, is not all advantages. After all, you're not 18 any more. The mind is not quite as supple at age 36 as it was at 18. That means that memorization will probably require more effort. The body cannot endure the same things at 36 as it did at 18. Can you stay up for three days straight drinking Red Bull and coffee? I doubt it. Maybe worst of all, you probably have a lot more responsibility than the teen across the room. Most older students contend with work, kids, financial obligations, and a host of other issues. It's a good thing that they take school more seriously. They need that advantage.
So how does an older student succeed? It's not that complicated. Go into class confident of your abilities. Realize that you're going to have to work hard but knowing that you CAN work hard. Get to know the professor if at all possible. There's a great deal of advantage to being a real person as opposed to just a name in the professor's eyes. Attend regularly, do the reading, and take notes. That'll put you ahead of 90% of my teen students.

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