Inspirational Adults

During my time here at Stony Brook, I've taken a few classes where there have been a few older adult students. Upon first impression, I pitied them. I felt they were dumb, and also embarrassed for them that they had to come back to school and be in class with students who were half their age. I wondered where they would go after class, if they had kids and a house, how they studied...etc. Then something I've been thinking about recently made me change my mind. When I think about the lives of these adults, I think about the amount of courage it must have taken them to enroll and go back to school which is something so hard. I'm envious of their courage and their tenacity to learn and better themselves. Some people would use them as an example or as motivation to study hard now as opposed to later, however I choose not to see it like that. Their internal drive and desire to learn is inspiring. It serves as a reminder of what we take for granted and that our lives could be so much harder and complicated.