<p>Hello everyone.</p>
<p>In 2011, at the age of 28, I decided to go back to university and complete my industrial engineering degree. I never regretted my decision and I blended in pretty well with the younger students. With about 1 year left before completion of my degree, I am looking at the opportunity to go study abroad for one semester. In fact, I have been accepted in Frederich-Alexander University in the Bavarian province of Germany. I am to leave for the summer semester of 2014 starting in march of that year.</p>
<p>I'll be 31 during that semester and as excited as I was when I planned everything, I am now starting to have doubts and fears. There is a part of me that is very adventurous and really want to do this, but on the other side I fear my age difference with the average student will put me out of context even though I still look young and have good social skills.</p>
<p>My age here is really what is setting me back... So, I am looking for inputs, opinions or experiences you may have lived to boost my confidence about all this.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>In my department there were two ‘mature’ women who studied abroad (for a whole year!), one was in her 40s and one her 50s and they said they had a great time. Time abroad really is what you make it, if you do not make an issue about your age then nobody else will either. You will probably find other older students there as well.</p>
<p>There was a really interesting tv show on BBC iPlayer the other day, it was called Make Me a German and it was about the differences between the British and German people and their working lives in Nuremberg. I mention it because it said pretty much everyone goes to clubs in Germany, either on the weekend or after work in the evening - so you will be able to meet older people outside the university bubble if you choose to.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply nordicblue. You are right, I should do this for myself and not fear other people’s judgement.</p>
<p>I found the tv show you’re talking about. I’ll watch it with great interest!</p>
<p>I went abroad when I was thirty and had no issues at all with the younger students. In fact, being older gave me some extra weight with the students and the teachers were thrilled to have an older, more mature student to help set a good example.</p>
<p>There are many mature students in Germany, some seem to study forever, so there will be nothing unusual about your restart. University there is largely based on exams in a factory-like method, whereby students can re-take qualifications and exams ad infinitum if they don’t pass and at virtually no additional tuition cost. Many of them work and show up just for exams, so will have lots of experience - you will have more in common with them.</p>
<p>That being said, you are only as young or old as you feel. It sounds banal, but studying abroad is a life-changing opportunity, particularly if you learn a language.</p>
<p>Hello everybody,</p>
<p>Im Vietnamese, 35years old. I want to go to study aboard with Nurse but have any chaces for me??</p>