After graduating from high school, Crystal Trulove, now 35, served for four years as a weather specialist in the Air Force and then "fell into" the meteorology profession. Eleven years later, she decided she wanted a career change. She found herself in an orientation group last fall with students over 15 years younger than her.

Although much older, Trulove and Robert Selden, 42, entered Brandeis just as any first-year would.

"I was ready to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up," she said.

By no means were they typical first-years.

Trulove and Selden, both considered juniors by the University, are part of the tiny fraction of students here who, although not of the typical age group, are going to college for the first time.

Trulove decided that in order to have a career she enjoyed, she needed to attend college. She chose Brandeis because of its academic reputation and proximity to Boston. She is majoring in anthropology and wants to go into the field of mediation so she can examine multicultural issues like misunderstandings caused by language barriers.

Trulove received her acceptance letter from Brandeis and decided to matriculate, transferring at the beginning of last semester from her local community college in Northern California. She first deferred enrollment for a year to work out visitation arrangements with her daughter's father.

Though much about the transition from California to Massachusetts was difficult, Trulove most regrets being unable to see herseven-year-old daughter as often.

"Moving out here, not knowing anyone in Massachusetts, becoming broke-the very hardest part about everything was leaving my daughter," Trulove said.

She and her daughter's father take turns visiting one another and Trulove is able to see her daughter about every 6 weeks. They enjoy going into Boston together, especially for ice skating and walking around the city.

Selden has a daughter about the same age, and said that she played a key role in helping him decide to go to college.

Selden worked in the construction industry after high school, a career that ended when he fell 13 feet from a construction site. A year later, his daughter was born and Selden decided that he wanted to reeducate himself for her.

"At 18 years old, you are the center of the universe," he said. "Now I have a daughter and she's the center of my universe."

After two years of excelling at a community college, he applied and was accepted at Brandeis, which is a 30-minute commute from his home in Lynn.

Trulove said that attending Brandeis has been a very unique experience. While she said that Brandeis is more racially and ethnically diverse than her hometown, she notices less diversity among student interests and personalities on campus, likely because many students are at a very similar place in their lives.

As a result, she feels she can offer different viewpoints to the community.

"I'm 35-I've been out in the world and I have a different perspective," Trulove said. "I look at things differently and I ask different questions. I can offer things in class that open up a different part of a discussion, while younger students help open my mind too."

Selden said he was surprised by Brandeis' "cocoon atmosphere," which is both isolating and inviting. He enjoys going to class and actively participating in discussions, especially since, like Trulove, he feels able to offer a different perspective and never shies away from voicing his opinions, as he might have done in his late teens.

Although he wishes he had gone to college directly after high school, he is proud to be on track to graduate with a major in American Literature.

"I'm kind of an oddity at the school, but I'm grooving and doing what I'm supposed to do for me," Selden said.

He said that students sometimes have the "gumption" to ask him what he's doing in class, to which he responds, "I'm learning, just like you."

Although their age makes them stand out in a crowd of young faces, Trulove and Selden are on the way to earning the same degrees as other, younger students.

"Going to Brandeis has made me feel much younger just because I had forgotten how to be a kid," Trulove said. "Now I get to go back and be young again.