Today I broach a sensitive issue: age. At first I wanted to keep my thoughts to myself on this one, but then I remembered that I’m hoping to help people with this blog and maybe one day someone will face the same issue that I am facing.
As previously mentioned, before coming to pilot training I was a teacher. At the schools I’ve worked at, I’ve always been the “baby”, finishing grad school and going right into the classroom, making me younger than most of my colleagues. It never seemed to be an issue, except in jest. Coming here put me in a very different position. I am, literally, the oldest person I know.
Perhaps I’m more sensitive to this issue than I might have been were it a different year, but as it happens, this year I’ll be climbing the big 3-0 hill. A friend of mine (you know who you are, Rainbow-Head) battled this numeric milestone a couple of months ago and I remember teasing him, “You’re not old; you’re experienced!” While I may have had a valid point, it is a little hard not to feel like the oldie on the block when I’m surrounded by 23 year-olds, fresh from college. Sometimes I fear that I won’t have anything in common with anyone.
Don’t get me wrong, the people I’ve met so far have been great! I’m really going to enjoy getting to know them over the coming year. But, that doesn’t help the little nagging voice that reminds me that I’m about the leave my 20s for good.
So, here is my paradigm shift: In the words of Chili Davis, “Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.” I am young! I am the middle of one of the most interesting adventures one could hope to experience and I have endless opportunities lying before me. I get to socialize with great people, learn from them, and hopefully they will learn from me. I have experience to help me act with wisdom and I have goals that are yet to be realized. In short, this is the best time of my life.
