Congratulations on your return to school, irondork! You will find it a refreshing and rewarding experience. Will your age be a factor? Definitely, but perhaps not in the way you might think.
I was forty when I returned to school, finally finishing when I was 46, so it was as six-year project. You’re not planning anything so extensive, but you already know it will require a lot of effort. The biggest surprise I found was how I was regarded by both faculty and fellow students. Being the “old man” in many of my classes and in more than one instance older than either the instructor or the professor gave me certain advantages that I never expected.
My age and life experience were greatly respected and admired. The “kids” were very eager to tap into what I knew. They were delighted that I viewed them as adults and treated them as such. That is very important because it is the baseline of the relationship you will have with them. It certainly helped that some of my classmates were more than capable students themselves, so there was a real interchange when we studied deep mathematics or some fascinating facet of geography, my two majors. Seeing that I would listen to them and solicit their advice and opinions made it much easier to give some of my own. More than that, I found these young people often sought me out on their own and I had never anticipated that.
The result was I formed friendships that have lasted down to this day. Those friendships are as valuable to me now as my diploma and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. I hope you have a similar experience.
Quendi