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Duuuuuude.  I graduated undergrad in 2004, and I'll be finishing my PhD around age 39.  Most of the people starting the PhD program at my school are in their 30s.  Looking in this forum, a good chunk of folks are in their 30s, with a handful 40s+.  Doing a PhD/academia as a second career is very, very common.

Basically, don't let being in your late 20s stop you if that's what you want.  You would certainly not be the oldest person in your PhD cohort, if you go that route.

And it's probably a good idea to not say you're "too old" to do something in a mixed audience, since there will certainly be people present who are older than you.   Probably more relevant a pro-tip for future day jobs than random strangers on the Internet.

Go to one of these people. Even another PI in your department who you feel comfortable with. That is no way for a graduate student to be regarded and consulting people in the program about your problem is the best way to solve it. 

I agree. This is generally what students in my PhD program were encouraged to do as well especially for trying out topics for our comprehensive exams and for the dissertation.
I mean, you can't generally take your class paper, do no extra work on it, and then turn it into your thesis because that would be odd and probably wouldn't pass because it is not comprehensive enough - but it's a great jumping point as @fuzzylogician describes.

A few things.
 
- Figure out who is the best teacher of your class in your department, and go sit in on some of his/her classes
- Build relationships with students, but keep in mind all the various laws (FERPA, sexual harassment, etc.) that are relevant.
- Your school may have a "be a better teacher" certificate or something along those lines.  Do that.
- Plan for your technology not working.  If you're going to show a powerpoint, what will you do when it won't work?  Consider these things and have a backup plan
- Activities!  Have a variety of activities to help people who learn in different ways learn the material.
- Carry spare chalk or marker board pens with you - you can't be guaranteed that the classroom will have them, and they'll be working.
- Remember that your students don't know it's your first time.  Act confident, and they won't know the difference.

They actually just sent out a more comprehensive schedule yesterday!
Guess who has a full schedule again?
Thanks for the help!

So, I got to campus a few weeks before class started, so I had a lot of opportunity to do just this.  Here's what I did:
- Try to make friends.  Introduce myself, invite people out for coffee.  Meet with advisors and department heads.  Basically relationship building.  Go talk to Samentha - she and I did our Master's together, and she started at UW-M last year.  Tell her Elise sent you to say hi.
- Figure out where everything is.  Explore campus and get lost.  Explore TOWN and get lost.  Find your way back.
- Settle into your new home.
- Set some goals for yourself.  If you can get a copy of the syllabi for your classes, start reading.
 
Honestly, though I'm surprised they're forcing you to be on campus if they don't have anything planned.  Are you sure there's no train-the-teacher training or anything like that?  Might be worth doublechecking.  For us, we have a week of orientation.  The first 8 hours is all orientation to the school, program, etc.  The rest of the week is training for the intro Comm class we all teach.

If you do send an email, maybe phrase it as wondering how space is typically handled rather than proposing a new system right away. I’ve always found that people are nicer when I acknowledge that I’m new and/or not sure what’s going on.

I wouldn't ask your office mates a question as a means to initiate a conversation on this topic unless you're willing to counter answers like "This is the way we've always done things," or "Stay in your lane, newbie."
Instead, I'd ask an administrator in your department about the assignment of desk space in this office. Once you know the way things are supposed to be, then you can wait your turn until its time to have a desk or initiate conversations in which you lead your office mates to a "hotel" concept.
If they prove stubborn, you can either go along to get along, kill them with kindness, or escalate the matter in ways that make initiate a renegotiation. 
As much as I'd like for you to raise a little hell, please keep in mind that ABDs are often an undervalued resource in a department. Your office mates may be acting like territorial dorks simply because they can, and they may also have invaluable information on preparing for qualifying exams and managing a dissertation proposal/prospectus process.
 

I know that, of everything, your AW score matters the least. But, I got my official scores today and I got a 5.5 (98th percentile) on the writing! I was kind of bummed about my scores (especially my verbal), but I feel really, really good now! 

Wow! This is fantastic! I did something similar, but without the ranking system. Thanks for this, really! 

Ah, makes sense.  Yes, you're totally right.
 
Here's what I did when I was investigating my programs.  I knew I wanted to go to an R1 institution (basically, institutions that offer Phds and do a lot of research).  So I wrote down all R1 institutions that also PhDs in my field. Then, I went website-by-website to see if they had concentrations in what I was interested in.  If they didn't, I deleted the school.  Then, I looked to see what professors at those schools were doing that interested me, and made note of those.  Finally, I made note of other factors (location, coursework required, etc.).  I plugged it all into a spreadsheet and came up with a ranking, then I finally skimmed those for places I would live and wouldn't live.

Here's a blank copy of the spreadsheet you can copy if it would help: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EBayVkXRcYS4ECviOkApehEO_oEedMKM5P7K9UNmYhM/edit#gid=746719307

You guys won't believe me I took part in a parliamentary simulation this week and I got to sit on the Prime Minister of my province's seat for it. wow.
 
 

Someone talked about my community involvemnt on tv. 

It was fine! I didn’t meet my goal but I contacted my top choice programs, who said not to worry about it. I think it’d be pointless to retake it 

Thanks for this! I have posed the same question in both the forums as well. Given the lack of responses, I figured there might be no harm in posting here as well. 

I don't know that I personally would take on the extra work if it's unpaid.  Your time is probably better spent writing SOPs, reaching out to professors, etc.  Basically, I doubt it will prepare you for your PhD application.

That said, if you're planning on applying to the PhD program at your current university, and you think you'd win favor by doing it, sure.  But I'd still hesitate to work for free or for "exposure."  Exposure doesn't pay the bills, and your time has value!

@hakubiwashuu Okay!  DONE.
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r563bGkj3JsqGrnNKIct1phwgoqJou1ZKdq3iifhAdQ/edit?usp=sharing

Time to start the Hunger Games!  @historygeek, I have my eye on you. ?

With respect, I think you might be approaching it from the wrong angle.  Generally, the reason to do a PhD is to research.  You can't do the research that you're interested in in all places.  Therefore, you have to first figure out your research interests, then find out what universities have similar programs and professors doing that.  Then, you figure out admissions requirements.
 
So the real question is: What are you wanting to research, and where can you do that?

Let the games begin!

Time to start the Hunger Games!  @historygeek, I have my eye on you. ?

With respect, I think you might be approaching it from the wrong angle.  Generally, the reason to do a PhD is to research.  You can't do the research that you're interested in in all places.  Therefore, you have to first figure out your research interests, then find out what universities have similar programs and professors doing that.  Then, you figure out admissions requirements.
 
So the real question is: What are you wanting to research, and where can you do that?

If you want to have some fun, think about making a list of day trips in your area or things you’d like to do in your city. Also, consider learning a fun skill (knitting, origami, roller skating, etc).
If you’re wanting to be more career focused, put together a lit review on a topic yo find interesting, learn a new coding language (or expand your skills with an old one), or see if a professor needs a volunteer on their research. If you do the last one, consider asking if you could get acces to data to publish or present on instead of getting paid if you don’t need or can’t get cash.

According to this guide, EUR 34 is actually a kids size in the US: http://www.zappos.com/c/shoe-size-conversion
 
If you really are a kids 3 (!), you can save a lot of money buying kids size shoes. For athletic-type shoes, though, definitely take a look at the kids department. They're substantially cheaper and sometimes you can even find them without glitter and Disney characters.
 
For what it's worth, I'm a 5 or 5 1/2 and definitely have some trouble finding nicer shoes in my size in stores. Sometimes I get lucky (and you figure out the stores around you that tend to carry smaller sizes), but I often buy online.

I agree with everyone else.  There's a big difference between a wardrobe malfunction and "Through no fault of my own, I was injured."  It's definitely up to you to set the tone.  If I had to guess, he was in fight or flight mode, and probably didn't spend very much time looking at your naked-bits.  If it had been me with a male student, I'd've grabbed a towel and covered you for modesty until help arrived.  And then denied that I had even glanced at anything.
If you want to defuse the situation immediately (assuming the professor has a sense of humor), buy a non-slip shower mat, put a bow on it, and present it to him during your meeting.  Maybe bring some hummus to snack on.  In my experience, when something embarrassing happens, you can either ignore it, and let shame overwhelm you, or you can totally and 100% own it.  I find the latter is better for mental-health.