I'm a second year student at one of the top 3 NLUs. I'm 18 and my roommate is 21, I can't relate to his aspirations and most of his conversations. I don't dislike him or anything but I sometimes find it hard to talk to him about things I find amusing. I feel he might find those idiotic. He keeps reading some newsletters which I have no idea about and has a whole plan ready from internships to a PPO. Not many people talk to him in campus or class and he seem quite unbothered about it.

Do you guys too have/had friends/roommates who were 2-3 years elder to you? If yes, how do you manage to get comfortable around them?

And I am glad that he is taking his time out to be actually responsible lol. Firstly, 2-3 years age gap is quite common at NLUs (it anyway doesn’t differentiate the IQ) and secondly, I am glad a person is actually doing some meaningful work while OP is complaining about it. Not going to allow such posts from near future.

I was 24 when I did my masters, and we had few students who were 30+, one was even a parent. Some were switching careers, some had practiced and came back, and some had lost years to competitive exams, etc. Everyone has some story. Initially it was awkward, and the younger ones would sit seperately from the older folks. However over time we found out that in the end we're the same, "students". All of us were learning, all of us had confusion in seminar papers, all of us had difficulty coming up with our dissertation, all of us were afraid of exams. The point being; we all were in different stages of life, but at the same time in the same place of our learning experience. We younger ones didn't have their world experience, or their pain of failures. And they didn't have our youth and time. We learned from each other. In the end I understood how strong "ageism" exists in our society. We have set bars, unwanted limits, you have to be in college by 18, job by 20s, married in late 20s, kids in 30s etc. Not realising that it's okay to move at our own pace, and not belittle if someone is not on the same pace as you are.

Regarding your situation, I'm glad you don't hate your roomate, but understanding that they have seen failures and disappointments earlier in life. You haven't, and you will, and that's the time you will crash. This is the moment that you can learn from your older friend how they've managed their mental health and emotions when things didn't go right for them. So that when you crash in the future, you have more empathy for yourself. Also, roomates don't mean best friends. Respect each other's privacy, respect each other's time. Have a code that what you share with each other you don't spread around campus. And think of it more like living with an elder sibling than with a batchmate. And trust me, spread some warmth and kindness to the other person. They have definitely been through shit, if they're already starting late according to "society's set time".

Bro u are talking about 2-3 years gap as if it's a 20-30 years gap, he's just more mature than you which people are at that age, plus pressure is a bit hit on him cuz he's a bit late to the law school party.

That being said u being 18 while in 2nd year is an anomaly itself.

And change your partner if you don't like him as such.