It's great to be old!

[Isoprop]

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Some reasons why it's great being a non-trad:

*No problem renting a car at the airport on the interview trail.
*No need for a co-signer (unless you have bad credit).
*Husband/wife supports you better than parents.
*It's easier to concentrate and focus on studying NOW than during your college days.
*Teachers who are younger than you tend to fear you (or feel intimidated).
*Being able to have a beer with your professor = great way to get a LOR.

 

[physicsguy]

Can't relate to the stuff that applies to married people or those who are far along enough in the pre-med route to even be considering interviews, but I definitely know what you mean. Back in undergrad I goofed off way too much; looking back just a few years after the fact I sometimes wonder why I wasted so much time. Granted, these were in the days when grad school was my primary objective.

 

[Harry Bahgina]

Some reasons why it's great being a non-trad:

*No problem renting a car at the airport on the interview trail.
*No need for a co-signer (unless you have bad credit).
*Husband/wife supports you better than parents.
*It's easier to concentrate and focus on studying NOW than during your college days.
*Teachers who are younger than you tend to fear you (or feel intimidated).
*Being able to have a beer with your professor = great way to get a LOR.

Just representing undergrad here.

* No inherent need/desire to text msg. all your friends during every class.
* No social requirement to have and ipod/iphone or wear white ear buds while walking around campus.
* No drama spilled over from high school.
* The ability to go to the liquor store and buy beer with a "real" I.D.
* Laughing with the professors about stuff that happened in the 80's and 90's and the rest of the class has no clue wth is going on.

 

[DocHomer]

Just representing undergrad here.

* No inherent need/desire to text msg. all your friends during every class.
* No social requirement to have and ipod/iphone or wear white ear buds while walking around campus.
* No drama spilled over from high school.
* The ability to go to the liquor store and buy beer with a "real" I.D.
* Laughing with the professors about stuff that happened in the 80's and 90's and the rest of the class has no clue wth is going on.

Also, holding a door open for a girl on campus, and she says, "Thanks, sir."
Oh wait...that's not cool.

I felt pretty old that day.

 

[agirl]

deleted...

 

[physicsguy]

what about us who don't have a husband/wife? 🙂
have a beer with the professor... that... Can I have a beer with my female professor? (I am a female)...
teachers intimidated by us? not really. all my professors happened to be older than me... even those TAs are just my age...

Heh, I was a TA a few semesters ago. It's weird controlling the grades of students my age.

 

[agirl]

deleted.

Heh, I was a TA a few semesters ago. It's weird controlling the grades of students my age.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Also, holding a door open for a girl on campus, and she says, "Thanks, sir."
Oh wait...that's not cool.

I felt pretty old that day.

I always say "Thank you much, Sir" or something like that when a guy is polite enough to hold open a door for me, even if they're younger. It's not because of age, it's a sign of respect because I think it's cool people actually do that.

 

[TcuTcuca]

As we get progressively older, it gets much is easier to:
*spot bulls**t from a mile away
*refuse to let other people make or break our day
*laugh at ourselves
*and, of course, drink responsibly (usually)

 

[Yudid]

I agree that it is great to be old (even though i am not (only 20)). It is so hard to be young, you worry about so many things

 

[n3xa]

You apparently can read (and understand!) the sign in the library that says "Quiet study area! No cell phones, talking, etc"

I have no problems going up to an 18-year old who's yapping on her phone when the door is 50 feet away. Ugh!

 

[teacher2PT]

I've been teaching special ed for about 13 years but am planning on going into Physical Therapy, and have begun taking pre-reqs. Although I think I'm very well-suited for the PT profession, I have lately been thinking I should just go for it and go into medicine, which I have always thought I'd love to do. I have a great deal of interest in overall wellness and the prevention of illness, and I really like the idea of being an Osteopath and being able to help people with general medical problems and prevention. I was worried about being too old to start on this path (I'd be entering D.O. school at age 40) but reading these posts really makes me feel like it's not too late and I should just go for it! I have the added benefit of being single, with not too many financial obligations and a very supportive immediate family. Just wanted to say thanks for your posts; it's nice having this community to learn from!

 

[TcuTcuca]

I've been teaching special ed for about 13 years but am planning on going into Physical Therapy, and have begun taking pre-reqs. Although I think I'm very well-suited for the PT profession, I have lately been thinking I should just go for it and go into medicine, which I have always thought I'd love to do. I have a great deal of interest in overall wellness and the prevention of illness, and I really like the idea of being an Osteopath and being able to help people with general medical problems and prevention. I was worried about being too old to start on this path (I'd be entering D.O. school at age 40) but reading these posts really makes me feel like it's not too late and I should just go for it! I have the added benefit of being single, with not too many financial obligations and a very supportive immediate family. Just wanted to say thanks for your posts; it's nice having this community to learn from!

Welcome to the land of the kick-a** non-trads! 😀

 

[ELECTROLITE80]

I am so glad I came across this thread. I just turned 29 two weeks ago and I will be 30-31 by the time I am hopefully accepted into med school. For some time, I've been feeling like I would be "too old" to apply to med school, but now, I love the fact that I'll be older!

Go you all for creating this thread...it makes us nontrads feel all special!

 

[Harry Bahgina]

I agree that it is great to be old (even though i am not (only 20)). It is so hard to be young, you worry about so many things

Yeah, but luckily most things a 20 y/o worries about are trivial.

And if they fail out of this process, they can move back in with their parents and it not be too weird.. lol

 

[QofQuimica]

I have no problems going up to an 18-year old who's yapping on her phone when the door is 50 feet away. Ugh!

One time when I was a third year med student, there was this middle-aged man having a loud discussion with a middle-aged woman right there in the front of the library. They were disturbing everyone around them, including me, so I went up to them and said, "Shhh, this is a library!" They didn't apologize, but they got the hint and went outside to finish their conversation. After they left, one of the librarians thanked me for chasing them out and said she hadn't felt like she could say anything to them. That surprised me, because all the librarians I ever knew were plenty good at keeping their patrons in line. Then she explained that there was a dermatology conference going on; turns out that I shushed two of the visiting dermatologists. 😳

 

[Isoprop]

One time when I was a third year med student, there was this middle-aged man having a loud discussion with a middle-aged woman right there in the front of the library. They were disturbing everyone around them, including me, so I went up to them and said, "Shhh, this is a library!" They didn't apologize, but they got the hint and went outside to finish their conversation. After they left, one of the librarians thanked me for chasing them out and said she hadn't felt like she could say anything to them. That surprised me, because all the librarians I ever knew were plenty good at keeping their patrons in line. Then she explained that there was a dermatology conference going on; turns out that I shushed two of the visiting dermatologists. 😳

I have a similar story, but I don't remember the details anymore. I suppose I was too busy losing all respect for you because of your avatar.

(Seriously? I'm diene?)

 

[QofQuimica]

I have a similar story, but I don't remember the details anymore. I suppose I was too busy losing all respect for you because of your avatar.

(Seriously? I'm diene?)

99.9% of all SDN users like that avatar. The rest of them are people whom I've shushed out of the library.

In all seriousness, I rotate my favorite avatars through every so often; there is enough turnover on SDN that a new generation of premeds can always enjoy them. This one is an oldie but goodie that I drew when I was still in grad school. I can't take credit for coming up with the pun, though.

 

[AmongtheVisions]

For what it's worth, I find your avatar hilarious QofQuimica.

 

[Isoprop]

99.9% of all SDN users like that avatar. The rest of them are people whom I've shushed out of the library.

In all seriousness, I rotate my favorite avatars through every so often; there is enough turnover on SDN that a new generation of premeds can always enjoy them. This one is an oldie but goodie that I drew when I was still in grad school. I can't take credit for coming up with the pun, though.

You know what's really sad? The first thing I thought of when I saw your avatar is "does that make a dienophile a necrophiliac?" I think I may have lost respect for myself too.

 

[Usernamed]

I love it when fellow-student come up to you and ask if you're the TA.

 

[QofQuimica]

You know what's really sad? The first thing I thought of when I saw your avatar is "does that make a dienophile a necrophiliac?" I think I may have lost respect for myself too.

Brilliant! If I can find what I did with my chemistry drawing software, that will be the next avatar.

 

[Isoprop]

I love it when fellow-student come up to you and ask if you're the TA.

Had this happen to me too.

Brilliant! If I can find what I did with my chemistry drawing software, that will be the next avatar.

Oh great, I'm encouraging you.

 

[QofQuimica]

Oh great, I'm encouraging you.

You know darn well you had every intention of encouraging me.

I love it when fellow-student come up to you and ask if you're the TA.

I'm not at all gray-haired yet, and people are often surprised when they find out that I'm a nontrad. But one of my more liberally gray fellow nontrads told me that he sometimes got skipped when the residents were pimping students, because if they didn't know him, they assumed he must be an attending.

 

[TcuTcuca]

He could definitely use that to his advantage. Work that gray hair.

 

[DocMcCoy]

Non-trad forum...I think i just found my happy place!

 

[akinetopsia]

Re: the being mistaken for a TA thing, I'm 29, and I *think* I look younger, no gray hair yet anyway, but that's happened to me twice in labs.

The first time was in the microbiology lab during one of the weeks where ID'ing an unknown bacteria was due, and I showed up to help one of my bench mates from my section with their unknown. This guy walked up to me and started asking me if it was cool if he got his new working/reserve stock slants out of the incubator. I said, "I guess so.. why are you asking me?"

"Aren't you the TA?"

Ouch... I think I grew a gray hair right then, but of course I think maybe he just thought I was a TA because one of the TAs does kind of resemble me, but I'm pretty sure I am in fact older. 🙁

I almost want to play a joke on a lab section next semester. I'm thinking the first time we meet I show up with a briefcase and start writing on the board when I walk in, assuming the TA/prof isn't there already. Hilarity will ensue, right??

 

[agirl]

deleted.

Re: the being mistaken for a TA thing, I'm 29, and I *think* I look younger, no gray hair yet anyway, but that's happened to me twice in labs.

The first time was in the microbiology lab during one of the weeks where ID'ing an unknown bacteria was due, and I showed up to help one of my bench mates from my section with their unknown. This guy walked up to me and started asking me if it was cool if he got his new working/reserve stock slants out of the incubator. I said, "I guess so.. why are you asking me?"

"Aren't you the TA?"

Ouch... I think I grew a gray hair right then, but of course I think maybe he just thought I was a TA because one of the TAs does kind of resemble me, but I'm pretty sure I am in fact older. 🙁

I almost want to play a joke on a lab section next semester. I'm thinking the first time we meet I show up with a briefcase and start writing on the board when I walk in, assuming the TA/prof isn't there already. Hilarity will ensue, right??

 

[BrainBox]

some wisdom comes with age too.... as long as aging is accompanied by personal and/or professional growth.