Bicycle Times and Dirt Rag magazines live on Saxonburg Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA. The wind is unusually still on the morning of Feb. 21, 2012. (Andrea Connell/SOMAD News)

I had a great time working at the Bicycle Times office. I felt right at home, they are my people!

You know what I am getting really tired of? People having trouble getting their heads around the fact that I am a student. Whenever I am explaining to people I am taking a picture for a project or assignment, they say,”Oh you are a teacher?” Even after I have just explained I am a student.

Canadians pat themselves on the back for efforts to curb their racism, be more inclusive and making the effort to understand other cultures. What they don’t do is challenge their attitudes around ageism. Yep, ageism. You look at a person and make an assumption about who they are or what they do. Just because someone is not 20-years-old doesn’t mean they cannot be a student.

So I am a mature student. There are lots of people who have gone back to school to make a career change as a result of a job lay-off or in pursuit of further knowledge. Learning does not stop after high-school or college. It is a life-long pursuit and if you don’t believe that then we can never be friends.