system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
PhDs, how do you balance straddling the divide between student and staff?

I hope this is in the right sub. I think most people here will have done the PhD thing and noticed how isolating it is so I'm looking for general advice. Perhaps this is particularly an issue at my university because its very small, mostly under grads, and in its own sort of "campus bubble" (i.e. not in a big city, so the only people for miles are students and retired people). But I'm 26, and I sort of feel between the two groups. 

Most of the friends I have made are through various sports clubs, and are mostly under grads. Sometimes I feel it's hard to connect with undergrads due to the age difference, like I'm out of the loop. At the same time I definitely don't feel part of the "staff" at all. The specifically post grad community is tiny and they seem to lock themselves in their rooms and work 24/7.

Next year I will begin teaching on modules, which makes this more of an issue (at least in my own head). On the one hand, I want to be percieved well by the students I teach. I feel like I need to act and dress "one step up" from students when teaching. I.e somewhere between "oversized grandad sweater" (the clothing of choice for hipster undergrads here) and "full suit" (so a nice shirt or a jumper is a good inbetween). But then, when I'm not teaching classes I will feel over-dressed and like it heightens the difference between me and my sort of but also not really peers. 

The clothes aren't really the issue, but they sort of highlight how I feel sort of on the edge of different groups, but without one that I feel really comfortable in.
gpt
You're overthinking this. Your students will respond best to you if you are authentically yourself. Don't worry about how you're going to be perceived; just worry about being the truest you that you can be.