Age

Having just celebrated a birthday and had a 20th class reunion, some interesting things happened. First, my reunion was a blast. In a class of 410, 150 people showed up for our reunion. Great turnout. It could have been higher. People knew a lot about what I was up to based on my Facebook page. That was neat.

Also, in 20 years, everyone goes their different paths. Many are married with kids. Some got married and are now divorced. Some are in a different part of the country. Either way, we all were pretty good with each other in talking and relating to each other's struggles and successes.

Now, here's another side of age. I am in a Doctorate program at BGSU. I am at least ten years older than almost all of my colleagues. Instead of going straight from one degree to the next, I worked in the real world. I think it helped me mature mentally and experience things that you just can't learn in class. Anyway, in some of my classes (at Kent and BG), I notice how I get the "old man" treatment. I mean, he's the "old man" in here, what does he know? That is such a powerful motivator. I think it can be more powerful than positive reinforcement. Thankfully though, the treatment for the age difference isn't as bad as it could be. There are just a handful of people who seem to have an issue with it.