I'm at least 20 years older than most of my classmates in grad school, and all along I've been trying to figure out the archetypal role that best describes my relationship to them, a mental image that I can be comfortable with. I tried the whole paternal thing. That didn't really work. I'm not a dad now and most likely never will be. I tried the uncle thing. That's a little closer to the mark, but what I've decided is that I'm more like the weird, older half-brother who's trying to make good, but doesn't really come around often enough for anybody to really get to know him. Hopefully, that'll work.