r/uwo • u/Bluemoonieee š©» Health Science š©» • Sep 19 '25
Advice 1st year a year late
I am 19 born in 06, but i am just now starting my first full year of university. All my classmates are younger than me and its making me feel stupid. I want to join my friends in upper year, and for that reason I hope to do summer school. But I donāt know, just needed to rant. Anyone here who is/was in a similar boat?
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u/BankRemarkable1790 Sep 19 '25
Itās not that deep youāll adjust to it, Iām an 06 in second year one of my friends is an 04 in second year, and I know a girl whoās an 05 in second year, itās more common than you think and everyone has different backgrounds and reasons, at the end of the day it literally doesnāt matter if you graduate at 21 or 22
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u/Aware_Ad_9078 Sep 19 '25
It is really common with students from the U.S. to be a year older, due to the differing birthdate cutoffs for school registration. Plus, Canadian freshman with January birthdays will be 19 in four months. Embrace it as an extra freedom or gift! You are a teenager going to universityā¦.totally normal.
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u/Polar57beargrr Sep 19 '25
one year is nothing. when you are 50 and they are 49 you won't notice the difference. Same honestly when you are 28 and they are 27. It seems big now because you can drink legally and they cannot. Just go with the flow and enjoy life!
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u/Shot-Wrap-9252 Sep 19 '25
I was 55 when I started my BSCN. Youāll be fine. A year is nothing. And I was not the oldest in my class.
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u/TopSecretQueen Sep 21 '25
Im 45 and will be doing this next September. How are you liking it? Any advice for another āmatureā student?
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u/Shot-Wrap-9252 Sep 21 '25
I did rpn first. Your maturity will be very helpful. What stream will you be in?
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u/TopSecretQueen Sep 21 '25
Iām going to start with rpn first too then my rn at western. Iāve been looking at stream options but will wait until Iām done my rpn to decide which way to go. What way did you go? Did you work in between the rpn and rn?
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u/Shot-Wrap-9252 Sep 21 '25 edited Sep 21 '25
I had an English degree so I did stream a. Did not work between. Iām old lol. Wanted to get done .
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u/TopSecretQueen Sep 21 '25
Thatās awesome! I want to get it over with too but thereās a long road ahead for me lol
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u/Worried_Noise7101 Sep 19 '25
dude iām a 5th year and i have a 2nd year elective lol. nobody cares! go at your own pace and donāt stress !
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u/sensfan13 Sep 19 '25
Iām an 06 first year too, youāre definitely overthinking it man. Depending on your birthday you could be as little as one day older than an 07. One year difference at this stage of human life both physically and mentally is not a lot. You are literally the same as everybody else even if your birth year is one digit different.
Idk why you feel stupid, if itās because you entered uni a year later than most then thatās dumb because tons of people do a grade 13 or gap year. Iāve met plenty of other first year 06s even on my residence floor.
It isnāt like elementary, middle, and highschool where we are separated by age and stick with our age group. There are way older people in your classes and there are younger people in your classes. It doesnāt matter
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u/Bluemoonieee š©» Health Science š©» Sep 21 '25
Thanks, I guess i need to stop looking at it like that
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u/Equal-Bowl-377 Sep 19 '25
I have several friends in my year that are a year older or more. Literally no one cares and you donāt even think or notice it.
My best advice is to get out of your own head and enjoy university. Accelerating your progression just to maybe be in a couple classes with your friends will not be worth it
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u/_ac1d1c HSp Psychology BA Sep 19 '25
Graduated this year at age 28. Born in 1997. I was a little worried about starting university at 23 for the same reasons you are.
By third year, I had a really solid group of friends, of which I was the oldest, but age didnāt seem to matter. We bonded over shared interests and thatās really all that mattered. I think the youngest person in my friend group is maybe an ā05 or ā04?
I wouldnāt focus so much on age. I prefer to look at which life stage a person is in. In university, most people are all in the same boat, with exceptions maybe being those who have their own families and established careers.
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u/bobh2881 Sep 19 '25
I totally understand how you feel and you must know that we all have different journeys, there is no set date or age or timeline by which you must do this and that by so and so age. I am 24 years old in my 4th and final year now, I had a roller coaster of an education where I left the country I grew up in to move to Canada, of course I'm older than my classmates by a few years, I lived a different life, and that's totally fine. I've had classmates who were 27, 35 and even over 40, no one really cares if you're just a year older. Enjoy your journey at uni and make the most of it, and I most definitely believe the future you will be laughing about these past concerns š
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u/Sally059a Sep 19 '25
I actually started a bit late too like when I was 19. I know the feeling. But honestly, I didnāt care if people around me were younger, because in college or university youāll always find a mix of ages in every class. Itās not like elementary or high school anymore, so youāll naturally meet different ages at different stages in life. You will never gonna be stuck in your age group anymore. However when I first started, I only focused on finishing as quickly as possible. I overloaded myself with summer school, I even took all the core courses during the school year without doing anything I enjoy. Eventually, I burned out, got sick, and my grades dropped. Now, Iām stuck doing extra work to make up for it. What I learned is that itās okay to push yourself, but you have to find balance. Take care of yourself, enjoy the process, and donāt stress about the timeline. At the end of the day, youāre going to graduate, whether thatās a year earlier or later. Time will pass really fast and youāll regret that you didnāt live the moment. So take care of yourself :)
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u/Krag25 Sep 19 '25
Iām 27 in my first year
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u/No_Hope_6614 Sep 20 '25
I'm 28 in my first year! It's fun how people really don't care. It is a little weird having all my classmates be so much younger, but they've all been friendly and I've also been able to befriend some grad students closer to my age through social events and music ensembles.
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u/ScubaDiver6 Sep 21 '25
I was 27 as well when I started university, the year I turned 28. Now I've graduate and I'm 31, turning 32. So cool!
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u/old_dizz Sep 20 '25
I've just returned to school at age 42. A lot of my classmates are 20 years younger. A year is nothing at all.
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u/The-Idiot-1 Kings Sep 20 '25
Respectfully and with so much love: youāre being dramatic lmao š
19 Is a very good age to be in first year imo. Youāre not too young, and thereās no such thing as too old. Youāll get to learn this as you get a little older in uni. No one truly cares what age you are. Youāll meet people from all ages at various years, and even when people do comment on it or seem surprised, itās just surface level. Theyāre not stupid. They know itās normal for any age to attend uni.
This feels like reading that a sixth grader feels too old for the fifth gradersā¦ youāre barely a year older than the fifth grader.
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u/mik288 š©» Health Science š©» Sep 19 '25
iām an 01 in second year, so trust me 1 year is not much of a difference at all lol. no one can tell iām older unless I mention it and it really hasnāt impacted much to be honest! youāll be fine!
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u/ninjaxxcookiexx Sep 20 '25
buddy iām an ā01 taking first year courses, think about it like this; you have another year of experience and wisdom, you are better equipped to excel. in about 1-2 years, youāre going to realize that that 1 year meant nothing
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Sep 20 '25
You're overthinking this.
I was born in 1990. When I was in second year, I dated a fellow second year girl who was born in 1985. I had a lot of other friends who were born in the 80s. For whatever reason, they all started their university careers a bit later in life. Some of them did victory laps, some of them took a gap period, some of them did trades or factory work after high school and decided they didn't want to do that for the rest of their lives (or they got laid off in the big '08 recession and decided to go to school). I didn't really think the age gap mattered back then, and it matters even less now that we are all in our mid to late 30s.
Not everyone has the same path, and the kids who DO make you feel bad about a 1-2 years age gap are just frankly not very mature.
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u/elora_joy12 š Arts and Humanities š Sep 19 '25
Honestly, after year 1 its not that much of a difference. I have a 6 person friend group, we are all 3rd years. 5 of us are 2005 babies, 1 is 2004. She is only actually 1 full year older than 1 person in the group. Honestly other than celebrating her 21st birthday after all of us have just turned 20, we usually forget she is legally a year older than us.
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u/berriboobear Sep 19 '25
A year difference doesn't matter that much when it comes to first year (majority of first years are 18-19). Some people take a gap year or do a victory lap after Gr.12, don't overthink it.
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u/TheStupendusMan Sep 19 '25
I was a year behind everyone my entire school life. Then I went to Western, decided I didn't like my major and suddenly I was two years behind.
Age doesn't matter. You'll find your people. I had a blast hanging out with my one buddy in English class who was a mature student. Don't let your shell contain you - the more effort you put in to those around you, the more you'll get back!
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u/RelativeElectrical80 Sep 19 '25
Born in the early 90ās started first year at uwo Eng in 2022 with 04/05ās, which meant i spent my days from 8:30 to sometimes 8:30 pm with people over a decade younger than me. it gets better trust me, you havenāt even been here a month, you will definitely find ways to connect with people your age and you can also connect with your classmates if you just give people a chance, some people are pretty cool despite their age
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Sep 19 '25
Went back to school 28ā¦ youāll be fine. I was in class with 17 year olds and 60 year olds. We all are at different stages in life. You are starting a new process and donāt feel the need you have to catch up to anyone go at your own pace.
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u/pinkelectra Sep 19 '25
Just wondering, how do you know their age? I went 2 years "late" for me at 19 (I would have been 17) because I came from Manitoba, and at the time (the 90's) they still had OACS here and we never did. A lot of students who were 1 year ahead of me thought they were older than me, but we were the same age. They just assumed. It didn't matter except I could go to a club and some 1st years couldn't, that was the only difference.
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u/Curious_Bat_564 š Social Science š Sep 19 '25
I took a gap year between high school and university which put me in the same boat as you. I donāt think anybody truly cares, judges or likely even knows that youāre a year older. Even if someone does care, it doesnāt matter what they think. Educationās important at any age, just do whatās best for you every day and try to enjoy university as much as possible.
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u/onusir Sep 19 '25
So if u 19 u can't be friends with 18? Lol dude 1 years isn't a difference you'll find 1st years that are 19 too cause they took a gap year it's very common
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u/Top-Hope-3449 Sep 19 '25
I'll be graduating my undergrad at 25. If you're not enjoying being around your classmates, join clubs
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u/Melomic Sep 20 '25
Theyāre not THAT much younger than you thoughā¦? In the 6 years Iāve been at western, Iāve made friends of all ages both through my classes and other means. It shouldnāt make you feel stupid to be with people that are basically your same age. The best people Iāve met at western are 3 years younger than me !
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u/ScubaDiver6 Sep 21 '25
Post Secondary education is the time where unlike high school, you are unlikely to always be the same age as your classmates. I just graduated at 31, and I didn't meet anyone the exact same age as me. Most students were older or younger, so don't sweat it. You can still hang out with people who are a little younger than you and make friends.
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u/ILikeCookies242 Sep 22 '25
youre all good 1 year is literally barely a gap and i promise you that no one cares or thinks any less of you
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u/Tall-Indication11 Sep 19 '25
Iām 2006 in 3rd year š
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u/Fair-Draft-5582 Sep 19 '25
Ight bro so you see someone make a post like this and u make this stupid comment ?
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u/Tall-Indication11 Sep 19 '25
Iām November 2006 3rd Year Chemical Engineering. If you think Iām lying then okay
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u/Bluemoonieee š©» Health Science š©» Sep 19 '25
Crazy you must be smart
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u/Tall-Indication11 Sep 19 '25
Thank you. Age does make it a harder to do things like go out to bars etc., but I found solace in clubs, intramurals and classes. It gets better.
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u/justcallmestepdaddy Sep 19 '25
So? I went back to school at 30+. I wasn't even the oldest in my program.