Welcome, Sziib!
The interesting thing about age is that it is not the first characteristic people notice. Other students on campus, classmates, and potential friends may more instantly notice if one is tall or short, round or thin, and the level of respect and self-confidence one conveys by their posture, body language, and demeanor.
You are not alone. Many students are "redshirted" as you were, and for some this extra year of growth before starting school provides:
- an advantage in sports, and/or
- a potential opportunity to enter a gifted program, and/or
- time to adjust to family changes (such as parents moving, a new job, and/or a new baby in the house), and/or
- a variety of homeschool activities (field trips, pre-school swim classes, dance classes, T-ball, etc) to explore interests, and/or
- time for motor skills development or practicing social skills and other compliant and non-wiggly behavior routinely expected in classrooms.
Meanwhile some students are grade accelerated in order to find the best fit of curriculum and pacing.
With a combination of redshirting and acceleration, there may be a variety of ages in any given classroom.
Age doesn't matter. Or, to repeat an old saying:
"
Those who mind, don't matter; those who matter, don't mind."
Being normal and fitting in is generally related to the art of conversation:
- engaging in small talk,
- being observant and thinking of positive things to say,
- asking questions without being invasive/intrusive, and
- finding things in common with people, regardless their age.
My advice is to choose your college based on:
- what you want to study,
- what you can afford,
- the campus atmosphere.
Adding a link to a recent post with quotes about the folly of
batching students by chronological age.
