BUILDING FRIENDSHIP WITH GENERATION Z WHILE IN THE UNIVERSITY

Hello Hive friends! I hope everyone’s doing great today!

I am a second-year college student at 35. I never thought I can get along with my classmates so well even though most of them are way younger than I am! Looking back, when I first entered the classroom fear crept inside me that I wished for the soil to swallow me alive! I thought they were going to judge me because I was too old to attend college or that they might think of me as someone who won't be able to answer questions thrown at me by the professors. But I was wrong for thinking that way.

Based on my observation, these young adults are outspoken, genuine and can speak their minds freely. However, some of them are also quite reserved and introverted but still values transparency and authenticity.

They often call me “Ate” an endearment term we use in the Philippines which means elder sister. Whenever they are confused about something, they tend to go to me and ask something like, “Ate, what do you mean by this or that?” or they ask something silly that feels like I know everything that is happening in the world! “Ate why is adjective called adjective?” :D

Kidding aside, my Gen Z friends are also the sweetest when it comes to friendship. They usually treat me to some restaurants or buy me some ice cream at Seven Eleven! :D

They are the kind of friends I never thought I could have because given the fact that I’m 10 or more years older than them! I realized that no matter where you are in life, how old you are or which generation you belong to, those will really not matter because there is no generation gap in true friendship!