Confessions of a College "Girl"

Sometimes it's hard to not feel like an outcast.

At college, for example. I'm a 30-something woman who's gone back to school after a long unintentional abscence. When I walk by a group of shiny-faced, 20-year-old girls simultaneously walking and chatting on their Blackberries, with their uber-expensive North Face backpacks, I feel like some kind of pariah. As if I should scuttle back to the castle, chased by Gen Y'ers brandishing torches and throwing stones at me.

And boy, don't I feel like some predatory Puma when I can't help but notice the veritable bevy of very cute, yet VERY young college guys!! (Note: It's okay to look!! I'm married, not blind!!)

Surely I don't belong amongst these spoiled kids, with their shiny new SUV's and brand new expensive laptops and breathless conversations about being rushed by their sororities. I drive an adequate and sensible car that was given to me by someone--and it's the nicest car I've ever owned, with working AC and plush upholstery. And I will never join a sorority (nothing against anyone in a sorority, but it's not my style), and as for my laptop I just got, it's the first one I've ever owned in my life.

Sure, I'm a little envious; I wish I didn't have to worry about working enough hours to pay for my tuition and books, and I wish I could spend more money on clothes shopping or a trip to the salon once in a while.

But it helps that I see a lot of older students spattered amongst the throngs of young faces. And it helps that I remember how grateful I am to be able to go to school. It helps to know I would be the same age even if I wasn't back in college, so I might as well have a degree.

And it definitely helps that I look 10 years younger than my actual age! (At least that's what the many stunned people say when I tell them how old I am!)