Age

YOUR TURN

Write and Reflect

Brainstorm in a small group how you might meet some older people on campus or in your community. Plan to meet and interview an older person about his or her experiences in college or in life after college, and write a journal entry about the meeting.

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Although many students enter college around age eighteen, others choose to enter or return in their thirties and beyond. According to a 2009 report, more than 38 percent of American college students were twenty-five years of age or older. Age diversity in the classroom gives everyone the opportunity to learn from others who have different life experiences. All kinds of factors determine when students enter higher education for the first time or stop and then reenter. Therefore, when considering the age of a college student, there is no such thing as “normal.” If you are attending a college that has a large number of students who are older (or younger) than you, view this as an advantage for learning. A campus where younger and older students learn together can be much more interesting than a campus where everyone is the same age.