After more than 34 years of military service, Lynn retired from the Canadian Forces and moved to London to pursue her Masters in Library and Information Science at Western University; this followed by a Masters of Studies in Law. She describes her Masters experience as being enriching and rewarding. After completing both of her Masters degrees, she decided to pursue her PhD in the Faculty of Law.
There are many opportunities at Western University for graduate students to get involved with. Nearly every day there is an event on campus for students to attend and if not, there is always the Grad Club to kick back in after a long day of research. However, Lynn explains that sometimes many of the on-campus events seem to be geared towards a younger demographic. Additionally, Lynn says she may be older but still feels like she is in her 20’s (most days), so does it really matter how old our graduate students are? Lynn explains that there really is not much out there in terms of resources or social opportunities for mature graduate students. However, she does recommend the personal trainers at the recreation centre, who are great at supporting students of all ages and abilities.
Lynn says she may be older but still feels like she is in her 20’s (most days), so does it really matter how old our graduate students are?
How do we make our graduate community and graduate events inclusive of all ages? Well, it starts off by letting all students know that mature students are passionate about their research and come with a lot of life experience that they can apply to their work and share with their peers. There should not be a binary of younger versus older student. There should not be a stereotype of graduate students being in their early 20’s right out of their undergraduate education, but instead, we should know that we are Not All the Same.