Am I old?

In our last Pedagogy class, our professor was describing the ideal professorial candidate today:

• 10 years of professional work experience, and
• a Ph.D.

I smiled to myself, because he was describing me perfectly, and it gave me a sense of hope for when I go on the job market next fall.

However, one of my classmates quickly replied...You mean you'd prefer someone to be really old when they graduate? I don't think she knew that she "outed" me when she said that...but it stung.