The Twenty Year Old Freshmen. Entry 1.
In the land of College (Uni for my international students), the typical age in which we enter higher level academia is eighteen. Of course, this is subject to change for each individual. Maybe you are someone who needed to take a couple years off after High School in order to (re)discover who you are as a person. Maybe you were someone who had no clue what degree you wanted. Perhaps you have a birthday late in the year that puts you a few months older than your peers. No matter the situation or reasoning, they are all unique to the individual.
In my case, I took a year off after High school so that I could support my family once my sister fell sick. It was the only thing that felt like the right choice. I love my family, so even though attending College was my absolute dream, I put it on the back burner. It was a hard decision to make, but I didn't regret it. Only a year later did the realization of what I had given up settle in, after I moved into my freshman dorm.
I was nineteen when I moved in, and twenty a month into my first school year. Now, when you think about it, this doesn't seem like such a big deal when there's typically only a two (sometimes three) year age gap between you and the people that live in your building. In reality, I realized that the physical gap may not be wide, but the emotional gap was. I was old. I saw it in the faces of those who found out my age, and I heard it in their voices when they would ask how I was even allowed to stay in the building at my age.
I was a first year student just like the rest of them, but I wasn't like the rest of them. I felt like I was behind when I'd meet people who were my age or younger yet a grade or two above me. This mentality of being behind has been hard to shake, but I know that I am not the only one. I hope that as I share my stories and experiences, more people who are like me feel less alone.