This Grandmother Enjoys Reverse Age Discrimination

Sherry Kughn

By Sherry Kughn
JSU News Bureau

April 20, 2004 -- It was 30 years ago when I attended Jacksonville State University as a freshman, and here I am back again getting my master's degree, this time in English.

As a student commuting from Anniston during the early 1970s, I felt that gas prices were too high. Mother prepared lunches that I ate in my car, and I made sure I kept up with the raincoats and sweaters she placed in the trunk. I remember borrowing money from my father when I would run short toward the end of each month.

As before, I'm commuting from Anniston. The price of gas is higher than ever. Mother no longer packs my lunches or outer gear, but she does call from across town to remind me of weather changes. I wish my father were alive for many reasons, though I no longer need a loan.

Once again I'm a working student -- a graduate assistant in the News Bureau, thanks to my 17 years of experience at The Star. I work there as a staff writer in addition to my studies and being a housewife.

The main difference in being a student then and now is that now I'm considered an "unconventional student" -- that's the phrase used to describe a student returning to college well beyond "traditional college age." I think that is one way of saying "old." I am older than my classmates. I'm older than my two professors. I am not as old as Dr. George Whitesel, who helps me often on the fine and performing arts floor at the library. He is 67 years old and has a Ph.D. in modern and American literature. When I talk with him, I remember that mostly what I learn as a student, at any age, is how little I know. Other differences from long ago: I am thankful for backpacks on wheels, and I don't have the luxury of making C's as a graduate student.

Being a student has many humorous moments. Thirty years ago I once called a grapefruit a "great fruit," a childhood habit. And I once visited a friend in a dormitory and didn't know how to use a push button telephone. I had never seen one before, and the incident made me feel backward.

I have made a few blunders this time, too. Just in this first semester, I have goofed twice. I wore two pairs of socks one wintry day and grew too warm in the news bureau office. I pulled off a pair and accidentally left them on the floor in the corner. Al Harris, my editor, found them the next day. He teased me and said not to take his invitation to "make myself at home" so literally. I blundered again when Mr. Harris sent me on a photo assignment to shoot pictures of a new police dog. I twisted the tiny lens of the digital camera in the wrong direction and returned with photos of my blouse, my hair, and my shoulder -- but no dog. Sorry, Mr. Harris.

I have experienced ageism. A group of "twenty-somethings" grew quiet as I walked into the classroom and sat near them. I am sure they were discussing a topic they didn't want me to hear. After all, I look like their mothers. Thus far, two students and one professor have approached asking me with questions as if I were a professor.

I am enjoying reverse age discrimination. Young people nod and smile at me as if I were a Sunday school teacher. My female classmates have asked advice about their boyfriends and husbands and their children's problems, as if I have answers. (Well, I do have a few.) Fellow students think I am smart because I am older. However, I recently made an "81" on a paper. A classmate looked surprised and said, "I thought you were probably the smartest person in class." Being older does not mean I know more about literature.

Before I came to graduate school, I had two big worries. I wondered if I would be tired all the time, and I did not want to give up activities with my two grandchildren. My concerns were ungrounded. I am invigorated by my daily challenges, and I still see my grandchildren.

All in all, I like being back in college. I am learning, having fun, meeting new people, and gaining more job experience. I would recommend graduate school to anyone. Lifelong learning is a challenge of the twenty-first century. And that challenge applies to grandmothers as well.

-------

Sherry Kughn, who holds an undergraduate degree in elementary education from JSU, has worked at The Anniston Star as staff librarian, reporter, and executive secretary.

---

Submit items for news releases by using the request form at www.jsu.edu/cgi-bin/newswire/request.