Although many people think it's great to look young, I've found it's created challenges for me. Courtesy of Ayman Eckford I'm 30 years old, but I look young and am often mistaken for being half my age. This has made it difficult for me to feel like I'm being taken seriously in professional settings. Oftentimes, when I apply for jobs or go to the office, I try to make myself look older . "Have you just started studying?" a tall, smiling man in a suit asked me. Although I was in a university building, I wasn't there as a student. I was struggling to find a conference room for a work-related meeting — one that, I soon realized, he was also attending. Of course he was. "Oh, you just look so much younger ," he said after he realized we were colleagues. Maybe it was a compliment, but it didn't feel like one to me. I have countless examples of people perceiving me as half my age, from movie-theater cashiers trying to sell me children's ticke...
