I've been in uni for like a month and there's a thing or two I'd like to talk about with respect to how old I am versus how young most of the other students are, because it's really starting to make me feel some type of way

Like, I'm a 24-year-old amongst a majority 17-18-year-old group. And I don't feel particularly connected to them in any way, from a cultural standpoint, that is. Also, the fact that they are so much more younger than me means that they have interest I could not give a fuck about

For instance, I couldn't care less about going out for a drink on Thursdays. I live with my partners, I have limited energy and I haven't touched an alcoholic beverage in ages. Also, most of them communicate mainly through SnapChat, a social media I hadn't used since 2013

So, what ends up happening is that by having no interactions with them outside university and its general vicinity, I'm in a position where I'm excluded from most of what makes this group of people bond with each other. Also, I feel like that makes me a non-factor in their social

life and that my presence is an incidental sort of thing. And I don't know if all of this a result of a divide in lived experience, i.e. they're almost all coming out of high school and I'm an old square, or just the fact that we truly do not have similar interests to begin with

Alternatively, it could and probably is both. The fact that I'm starting a new bachelors' degree does in fact put me in this position, which I fear initially, where I'm significantly older than everyone else and that sort of fucks me over in some way socially, in addition to my

limited social skills. I do not really have the tools to communicate with people in the way they would, because most of what I (want to) say relates to a specific interest of mine, because I'm neurodivergent. And all of this sucks major shit because I do not want to be excluded

from a social group I'm going to be involved with for a handful of years, because that is absolutely painful. The fact of the matter is, there's no good solution to this issue, and that I cannot fake interest in shenanigans because I truly do not care.

I feel like the intersection of my age, and my neurodivergence does in fact create an undesirable situation for me. As a neurodivergent person, it's already hard to be included in social circles, because most people will eventually just drop you out or alternatively they will

never consider you more than an acquaintance. And the fact that I'm older means that I have different aspirations and priorities in life. Having settled with people I care about, It's harder to justify going out for a drink or what have you when there are folks at home who love u

versus living with your parents or alone in a tiny apartment. And all in all I do believe that is going to create problems for me, as time goes on. There's a high chance I will feel progressively more excluded from that group by virtue of what I just described in this thread.