Films like, Van Wilder, House Bunny, Life of the Party, create a fantasy world defining college. College is shown as a land of freedom from responsibilities, lack of parental supervision, hazy regulations, where one is surrounded by the same age students. Everyone parties all of the time, has multiple partners (one of whom they will eventually marry), and there is one older person that ruins all of the fun. In these types of films the older student is seen as a disgusting addition to the college, unintelligent, unable to keep up with the current trends, an informant for deans, or simply annoying.
These characteristics are then reflected onto real life older students. Personally, I have felt ashamed by my age because of the reactions I have received. I congratulate individuals my age or older for going back to school to earn their degree. However, this is not a shared perception to age. My age isn’t the oldest, I have had peers older who I assume had to deal with similar ridicule from younger students as well as others outside of college.
I dreamed of a college experience where I would party all night, meet cute boys, and graduate within four years with a degree in Biology. When I actually identified the source of this fantasy I realized it was all of the comedic college themed films I saw as a child. In reality I have been “going” to college for seven years, attended three different colleges, made one huge move- leaving Cali, was out of college for a year and a half, and changed my major three times. Not to mention the great deal of things happening in my personal life my college experience has been extremely unconventional. My story is similar to many older college students who had other priorities to care for first, like children or a sick parent, to never feeling college was right for them right after high school.
I’ve noticed that the way a person perceives an older student is based on their definition of college. One may define college as a place to find yourself through experiences like parties, partners, and extracurricular activities. Or a facility to earn a piece of paper that opens more job opportunities in the future. I am not asking anyone to change their definition of college as everyone has different life. Some people are lucky enough to have a financially stable household, engaged in extracurricular activities as a child so they have already identified what they would like to major in, had the opportunity to participate in college courses in high school, and has an established social community to provide the party lifestyle. While some of us are dealt different cards: joining the armed forces right out of high school, caring for children, needing to pay their way to college, and so many other life changing events that brings them to college at a later age.
If there is anything you take from this personal rant is that treat people the way you would like to be treated. If you cannot say anything nice to the person’s face say it to your close friends or family so you can vent. Not everyone has the same fortunes as you, just as you would encourage a younger student, encourage an older student for making the effort for personal growth for a brighter future.