Being an Older Student. Is it an advantage or a disadvantage?

It is an interesting situation being an older student.  I can walk into a conference and sit with the professors and they all think I am one of them.  They immediately give my ideas more credibility just because I have some gray hair. Even when they learn I am only a graduate student, I think they afford me more respect than would be given to a student in their 20's.  I have much more in common with the professors that are in their 40's and 50's because many of them began college around the same time I did.  But, then they also expect more from me.  They assume that I have the experience to go with the gray hair, that I have spent the last 30 plus years in this field.  They are surprised when I am not aware of certain facts.

The other graduate students also treat you differently.  They don't believe you at first when you tell them you are also a grad student.  They are open minded and help me learn the things I don't know.  They are willing to help me understand the fields that they have spent years learning and which I am only beginning.  But, I am not in my 20's and they have much different priorities and desires than someone in their 50's.  That excludes me from most of their interactions outside of the lab.

The funny thing is that I don't feel any older than the students. I still feel like I did when I was in college the first time.  Until I look in the mirror and see this wrinkled old man, staring out at me.  Where did he come from?  What happened to that young man that used to look out at me?  I have noticed that I am not as quick as I use to be.  In college, I would read a book or paper and be able to remember everything in it.  Learning new facts and ideas were easy. 

Now I find that I must re-read the material a number of times.  And then I can only remember the vague concepts in the paper, not being able to recall the specific facts.  Trying to memorize small lists of facts is just about impossible. I still cannot remember the names of all the amino acids.  There are only twenty and some of them share common names.  This should not be difficult.  There are 26 letters in the alphabet, I learned all those.  There are 50 states, I learned all those and their capitals.   Don't ask if I remember them, that's another problem.  The information might get in there for a short duration, and then I only vaguely remember reading about it, but cannot recall any of the details.

But, overall, I cannot think of a better way to spend my life.  I love the learning, and I am making progress.  I believe that I still have a chance to advance my field of study and maybe, just maybe, my work will help someone else find a miraculous cure for a disease.