Age ain't nothing but a number, right?

I am now into my fourth semester since deciding to go back to school two years ago for journalism. Writing and being a journalist has been a life long goal of mine, starting when I was quite young, and obsessed with reading the paper (remember those?) everyday. Writing has always come fairly easy to me, and it's been a somewhat smooth transition from occasional blog writer to actual reporter. I'm confident in my ability, and I produce decent work within my deadlines. To be clear, I am currently writing for the college paper. It's a paid position, and a chance to get experience. Aside from the bleak forecast on the future of journalism (I think it's a bit overblown, but still...), my main concern is my age. I'm easily the oldest person writing for the paper, and usually the oldest person in my journalism classes (I luck out with electives, I'm middle of the pack in those). I struggle with it almost everyday. I find it ridiculous at its base, but here I am, describing it to you. Clearly, my age provides many advantages, in terms of life experience and ability to work hard. The drawbacks are based on vague assumptions of what may happen in the future. Silly, right? Anyway, it's not going away. Thoughts, dear friends?