My wife & I have an 18-year-old son. He started university in September, studying medicine. There he met this 41-year-old man - a classmate, and they became really good friends. This man has just started university now at this age because apparently he was born poor and in the first half of his life was focused on making money, but medicine is a dream of his. Son has always been an introverted, shy, socially awkward kid with little friends, but now goes out often. Honestly my wife & I are uncomfortable, and we can’t help but side eye the dude.
Of course you can’t.
But picture putting your life on hold for 30 years. Would you not then feel extremely out of place with your own “peers” who didn’t do that?
Age isn’t really what defines where you’re at as a person, that’s stuff like culture, hobbies, career, education. People don’t connect over being the same age. They connect over stuff like video games, philosophy, books, nerding out about their industry, how that one class at school sucks, etc.