I transferred to the University of La Verne in 2016 when I had just turned 24. Knowing I was in the Campus Accelerated Program for Adults (CAPA), I was expecting to de surrounded by like-aged individuals. When I finally registered and attended my first classes as not a community college student, I saw that I was very wrong.
My first class was Journalism 100, a requirement for all majors in the Communications School.
There I met students who were 17 and 18 and I felt completely isolated and out of place. I do admit when I am complete shaven I look a little younger, but still around 19 or 20.
When going through icebreakers and getting to know one another everyone always had the same little look when I told them I was practically in my mid-twenties. It made me feel like I was completely apart from the class. I began to think I had wasted my time as a young adult and that maybe I was too late in the career race.
As time went one I learned to accept my situation and that I was not alone. As I went through more classes in my major I met many other students who had transferred in later in their educational careers and felt the same way. That and that fact that I made some really cool friends in my classes made me feel like I truly belonged.
My advice to anyone coming into any school with more years of life on them than other students: be humble, be open and be transparent. You can only truly make friends and get to know someone if you are who you say you are.
I am Arturo Gomez Molina. I am a college senior. I am 26. I am proud of me.