How to fit in at school...

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SlipperyButter

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So I graduated years ago with a chem degree and decided to go back to school for post bacc to boost that GPA. I'm a bit older than most the students and have trouble fitting in... I've got my skinny jeans and sneakers. I need a few more tips and help and hopefully people in situations similar to me will benefit!

Like what's the deal with the backpack? Do I double or single strap?

When I was a student I had a study group where we'd get the rhythm and beats to popular songs and replace the lyrics with course material... Would I be considered a square if I tried to make a study group where people are willing to make songs and record them on a CD or cassette?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
 
SlipperyButter said:
So I graduated years ago with a chem degree and decided to go back to school for post bacc to boost that GPA. I'm a bit older than most the students and have trouble fitting in... I've got my skinny jeans and sneakers. I need a few more tips and help and hopefully people in situations similar to me will benefit!

Like what's the deal with the backpack? Do I double or single strap?

When I was a student I had a study group where we'd get the rhythm and beats to popular songs and replace the lyrics with course material... Would I be considered a square if I tried to make a study group where people are willing to make songs and record them on a CD or cassette?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
Click to expand...

Be yourself. Dont try to be someone you're not. If you are the adventurous type and want to be someone new as part of a new college experience, then go ahead 🙂

Where I am most use double strap, back "in the day" it was single strap for me, but... no one cares these days at least where I am.

BTW, what's a cassette, is that like an 8-track or betamax tape? 😉
 
NuttyEngDude said:
Be yourself. Dont try to be someone you're not. If you are the adventurous type and want to be someone new as part of a new college experience, then go ahead 🙂

Where I am most use double strap, back "in the day" it was single strap for me, but... no one cares these days at least where I am.

BTW, what's a cassette, is that like an 8-track or betamax tape? 😉
Click to expand...

Lol
Thanks man...
It's been a couple weeks since school has started so my kids are giving me tips to fit in.
By the way... I didn't even notice I write cassette till after you mentioned it!
I'm getting old... Sigh
 
SlipperyButter said:
So I graduated years ago with a chem degree and decided to go back to school for post bacc to boost that GPA. I'm a bit older than most the students and have trouble fitting in... I've got my skinny jeans and sneakers. I need a few more tips and help and hopefully people in situations similar to me will benefit!

Like what's the deal with the backpack? Do I double or single strap?

When I was a student I had a study group where we'd get the rhythm and beats to popular songs and replace the lyrics with course material... Would I be considered a square if I tried to make a study group where people are willing to make songs and record them on a CD or cassette?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even bother. I'm about 8 years older than the freshmen that dominate most of these lower division science courses, and I feel listening to their discussions is good preparation for psych rotations (e.g., hearing a flock of pre-med girls freak out over Miley Cyrus twerking).

Your best bet is to find the other older students in your classes doing the post-bacc and hang out with them. It took me about a semester to find some, but now classes, and especially labs, are much more enjoyable.

Also, please record an organic chemistry song to Sussudio.
 
one of the other non-trads here has said he has made lifelong friends with some trads and i believe him. i would say i've experienced similar and the success rate for me is <5% which makes it worth it to try. just keep perspective.

I've got a tip for you OP, decide your relationship with facebook now. To a lot of the people age < 30, it is a very important and major part of their lives. to me, it's an intrusive excuse to parade and peacock but it can be helpful if your classmates use it for their classes.

also, amazon prime is nice to have and it's free for a year as a student. textbooks online are 3-10x cheaper than the bookstore, especially for used books. some of my classmates don't even buy textbooks but i always do. this is "old fashioned" but i'm a die hard on stuff like this. this is irrelevant if you dont read the textbooks, however.

avoid pre-meds who are a little "too interested" in knowing about your application no matter what age they are. i'm refraining from posting a story on this but keep things on a need to know basis and no one needs to know.

so i guess what i'm telling you are not really how to "fit in" but it is sort of along the lines of navigation. 🙂
 
Don't worry about "fitting in." You are who you are. You can either be the guy who looks a little older but whatever he's pretty nice or you can be that weird old guy who always tries to act like he's younger.

Making songs seems waaaay too time-consuming to me, but if it works for you, go for it! I think different tastes in music might be an issue. I was only like 5 or 6 years older than the other kids and already they hadn't heard of the musicians I like, people popular when I was in high school & college.

The person who said Facebook is everything is right. Sooo much Facebook drama among the under 25 crowd these days. And everyone tweets. I swear to god I'm not that old, I'm only in my late 20s, but I cannot think of a bigger waste of time than tweeting. Like, where do they even find the time?

Anyway, don't worry about fitting in, trying makes you seem weird. People literally thought I was from another country sometimes, but everyone was always really nice to me and no one ever like, called me grandma or anything. There were also middle-aged people in a lot of our classes and while they may not be invited to the kids' keg parties or whatever, everyone respected them just fine. You feel weird and old but it's really not a big deal.
 
Haha, I'm giving advice on how to fit in as an older person when I sound like I'm 16 with all of my "likes." I meant to sound conversational, not stupid!
 
Most everyone has touched on this already, but just be yourself. Don't try to act like someone you're not because it's a waste of time and energy. Also, put yourself out there; if you want to find a study group, ask around! Most trad students aren't as scary as you think they are. At my school, we have a commuter lounge and many non-trads hung out there. Maybe your school has something similar?
 
Yeah, fitting in is not worth it. You'll find people you like and people you don't like. Don't bother conforming to the group norms of a bunch of teenagers.

On the backpack, even if this was tongue in cheek: for the love of god, double strap. Teenagers have the luxury of not worrying about back problems. As someone in their mid-twenties with back problems, wear that backpack the way it's meant to be worn. Your body will thank you.
 
Double strap when you are more concerned about your back than fitting in and single strap when you have your backpack partially rotated to your front to grab a snack to eat while running between classes 🙂 (But for the record, "cool" these days at least at my school is not using a backpack or messenger bag at all, but a shoulder bag.)

Seriously, though, trads may be young, but roughly 0.00000001% will care about your age and whether you double or single strap or wear skinny jeans or do X. Just be yourself and be nice, and you'll be fine. If anything, trying too hard to act 18 will be way more detrimental than being your mature self.

And finally, at least at my school, so many of the pre-meds don't fit in with the stereotype of "cool" either, that it's actually less common to be "cool" than "weird." So many 80-lb 18-year-olds with khaki pants tucked in and pulled up to their armpits who literally quiver with excitement as exams are handed out. Nobody thinks twice about that, and nobody will think twice about you!

This is more than I intended to write, but I wanted to underscore that you being you -- a motivated, caring, non-trad pre-med -- will be a lot better than you trying to be anyone else!
 
If you look like an older student, then it is what it is. Some will be alright, but they'll make some snarky comments about you like they do about everybody. True. Best thing to do here is just be their classmate and try not to relive high school.

If you don't look like an older student, then my fundamental question is this: WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO REGRESS TO THEIR LEVEL? Don't get me wrong. I thought a lot of my peers were great, but there's a lot of immaturity and growing up to do in that age cohort.
 
I went about this by contacting my in-class assignment group via email after class one day. I floated the idea of establishing an open line of communication with each other, in the chance where we had questions/issues with the course content. Since we had worked together earlier that day (& well, to that point), just about everyone accepted the proposition.

The previous advice regarding finding other non-trad's/post-bacc's appears sound. You'll already have something in common with them, and assuming they have a more mature mindset than the typical 18-19 yo, it could be easier in the long-run to collaborate with them.
 
I thought part of being older was no longer caring about what other people think, trying to fit in or being something other than yourself. I guess it's not the case for everyone.

When I did my post-bacc (25-28), I got along great with people of all ages, except middle-aged people (40+). They were the worst. They thought just because they were older that they'd do fine in classes and saw most of them fall like flies.
 
I am a trad student and I love the non-trads in my class. Just be yourself man. Make some jokes and don't be overbearing about it if you had a previous career in healthcare and anyone worth knowing will like you.
 
SlipperyButter said:
So I graduated years ago with a chem degree and decided to go back to school for post bacc to boost that GPA. I'm a bit older than most the students and have trouble fitting in... I've got my skinny jeans and sneakers. I need a few more tips and help and hopefully people in situations similar to me will benefit!

Like what's the deal with the backpack? Do I double or single strap?

When I was a student I had a study group where we'd get the rhythm and beats to popular songs and replace the lyrics with course material... Would I be considered a square if I tried to make a study group where people are willing to make songs and record them on a CD or cassette?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
Click to expand...

Everyone gave you a good advice here. I might only add, go to school to study and do well in your classes. Don't worry about anything else. Don't worry about fitting in. These people who are taking a Bio or Chem class with you now... you'll never see them again. But your knowledge and your grade will remain.
Just be yourself, wear what you like and, yeah, double-strap your backpack (as others have mentioned, better for your back). I don't even have skinny jeans. Hate them! At school I usually wear yoga pants and sweatshirts.
 
CW 2010 said:
Everyone gave you a good advice here. I might only add, go to school to study and do well in your classes. Don't worry about anything else. Don't worry about fitting in. These people who are taking a Bio or Chem class with you now... you'll never see them again. But your knowledge and your grade will remain.
Just be yourself, wear what you like and, yeah, double-strap your backpack (as others have mentioned, better for your back). .
Click to expand...

Ditto.
I'm starting my 2nd year in with the kiddies and it's going just fine. When I came in I had the attitude that I needed to blow these classes out of the water and nothing else mattered. Spent more time with the profs in the first couple of months than any of my classmates.
And what I found was that the kids started coming to me- they saw I was doing well and asked for study help; they found out I was older and started asking for advice. I've made some good friends among the trads, but mostly I just get respect 😎
Also I've found that explaining something to them helps me understand it better. And sometimes they return the favor when I'm getting confused about something.

Best quote:
Trad, to me and another non-trad, after asking for help with some homework
"Do you guys study on the weekends? Because it seems like you get a lot done."
Us (cracking up) "Of course- when are we not studying?"🙄

Just do what you need to do and be a decent human being. The rest will fall into place and you'll find other people who are nice, regardless of age.
 
When your classmates start calling u ma'am or sir, just roll with it and don't digress lol
 
IMO:

It's not important to "fit in."
It's important to have friends.
It's important to be loved.
It's important to be happy with who YOU are.
It's important to be honest about who you are. Others cannot love you for you, if they don't know you because you are "trying to fit in" or be someone else.
It's important to be confident in yourself and believe in yourself.

The key to starting a new student group is to frame your idea in a way that makes it sound appealing and to reach those who share your interests. The number of people into recording music will vary from school to school.

In terms of how to dress, you can go to your college campus, sit on a bench, eat lunch, and watch people. You can then decide for yourself how you would look among that crowd. I think that most people like to wear a blend of classics that never go out of style (like jeans), a few trendy things they truly like, and a few things that aren't in style or popular that they just really like.

A good friend or adviser will let you know if something stands out in a negative way that you didn't notice, which i think is what you were concerned about. This (the preceding sentence), IMO, this is very different from, "trying to fit in."
 
SlipperyButter said:
When I was a student I had a study group where we'd get the rhythm and beats to popular songs and replace the lyrics with course material... Would I be considered a square if I tried to make a study group where people are willing to make songs and record them on a CD or cassette?
Click to expand...

This has actually been done. Google "study with substance P"
 
I can't really tell if you're being completely serious or not, but I just have to say that the most annoying "older" people are the ones who try to fit in by wearing the same things as younger people, speaking like the younger people and any other silly thing to try to fit in. In other words, if you have to teach yourself to act a certain way...just don't. I echo the other posters in urging you to be yourself.

Have FUN!! 🙂
 
I would like to know how to keep fit while in school. Any suggestions there? 🙂
 
How-Do-You-Do-Fellow-Kids-Reaction-Gif-Steve-Buscemi.gif


I found that younger people are usually really interested in your experiences, and will somehow think that you have it all together. :laugh:

I was a bit of an outcast the first semester, but I met people through study/TA sessions and I feel so fortunate to have met so many awesome younger people.

The main thing is: do not discount people because of their age. I met a lot of people in my program who were too proud to ask for help from younger TAs, or felt smug because they had advanced degrees. Just be normal. treat others like your colleagues and all will work out 👍
 
Look I mean. Basically. You gotta learn how to twerk ridiculous. No way around it.
 
On day one, find the biggest, baddest guy at the school and beat him up. After that, maybe join a gang or smuggle cigs - anything to gain some cred. And no matter what, don't be a snitch.
 
You know before I went back I was a little bit worried about this as well.

What I found is that I did not really have to try to fit in. I simply was myself and easily found a group of other students who became my friends. Some were non-traditional others were traditional. We ended up going through the classes together, supporting each other and studying together. What we all had in common was our goal.

I am still in touch with everyone from that group. It was a wonderful experience and I ended up making great friends and eventually colleagues.
 
Just walk around in a speedo (nothing else), showing off the goods... that'll make you popular in no time.
 
SlipperyButter said:
So I graduated years ago with a chem degree and decided to go back to school for post bacc to boost that GPA. I'm a bit older than most the students and have trouble fitting in... I've got my skinny jeans and sneakers. I need a few more tips and help and hopefully people in situations similar to me will benefit!

Like what's the deal with the backpack? Do I double or single strap?

When I was a student I had a study group where we'd get the rhythm and beats to popular songs and replace the lyrics with course material... Would I be considered a square if I tried to make a study group where people are willing to make songs and record them on a CD or cassette?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
Click to expand...

Read How to Win Friends & Influence People by Carnegie, Dale; Its a great book.
 
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