24-year-old freshman starting college — how different will my experience be from everyone else’s?
Hey everyone. I’m 24 and starting college this fall as a freshman. I graduated high school during COVID, kind of fucked around for a few years afterward, and never really got the traditional college experience. I’ve always wanted to go, though, so I’m finally doing it.
I know I’m obviously not going to have exactly the same experience as someone who starts at 18 or 19, and I’m actually curious how much of a difference the age gap makes socially.
I’m generally pretty comfortable talking to people and I do well socially when I’m out, but I’ve never really had to build a social life in a college environment. I’d like to actually make friends, meet people, go to things, and just be part of campus life rather than treating school like somewhere I go to class and leave.
And yeah, I’m single, so I’d like to flirt/date and meet girls too. 😅 I’m not trying to be the weird 24-year-old hanging around freshmen specifically — I just want to meet people around my age and have a normal social life while I’m in school.
I’m also going to community college, so I’m wondering if that changes things. For anyone who started college a little later than most, what was your experience like? Did you feel noticeably out of place, or did you eventually realize the age difference wasn’t that big of a deal?
Any advice for making friends and getting involved socially when you’re an older freshman would be appreciated.