One day, I was ordering lunch. After I made the order, the server asked "can you show me your student card? You can get a 10% discount if you have it with you." I had a student card with me, but it has expired (Why did I keep it in my wallet?). That was when I realized that I still look like a student, even though I finished school more than six months ago.
That was not the first time (since I completed my studies) someone asked me whether I am a student. Many people have said that I look young for my age (go here to see if you think this is the case). Often I say to myself that I would be quite well off if I have a dime every time someone says "you don't look like someone who is (insert my current age) years old". There are even times when I wonder if I look more like a high school student than someone who holds two degrees.
Ever since I entered grade school, many have remarked that I appear to be young for someone my age. During my primary school years, the most likely reason for people underestimating my age was my height, or lack of it — I was almost always the shortest boy in class. This led some people to say to me (jokingly, I think) that "you should be in Grade (my grade level at the time - 2)". As I grew, my face became the reason why people underestimate my age (you may not see much difference between me 10 years ago and me today).
Of course, there are adventages to this. If I am able to keep this up, I will be able to keep my appearance 10 years younger than my age suggests throughout my life. People get astonished when I tell them that I have already graduated from university (unless someone else mentions that I have two degrees, I usually make no mention of that. While I do hold two degrees, I'm sure many will find it difficult to believe given my facial appearance). When I go shopping for something, some clerks tell me about their discounts/promotions geared towards students and/or youths.
Like almost anything else, there are some down sides to this as well. When I go to a job interview, I have heard the interviewer saying "you have a Master's degree? You look younger than that suggests" more than once. I often have a hard time figuring out whether that is a positive or negative remark. I sometimes think that my face may give the interviewer the image that I am too young, not yet ready to take on the responsibility associated with the job (although I'm sure I am the only one in the interview room that thinks that way). Sometimes when I try to interject myself into a serious discussion, my comments don't seem to be heard and acknowledged by those engaging in the discussion, possibly due to my not-so-serious facial expressions and my lack of exposure in the "real world".
Of course, there is few, if any, reason for me to complain about this, since there are many people who are dreaming of appearing years younger than their age suggests (and are spending a fortune to achieve that). Until all of us are able (and willing) to look deeper, I (and many others) will have to deal with remarks on our appearance with respect to our age (as well as the good and the bad things associated with looking young/old for our age).
