KEY POINTS:
A 64-year-old retired school teacher, encouraged to return to university by his former pupils, is among the country's top student achievers.
Canterbury University student Gary Whitcher is one of eight students from the university to receive Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarships, worth a total of $750,000, announced yesterday by Tertiary Education Minister Pete Hodgson.
"I wanted to do something to keep my brain active, and [studying] seemed one way of doing it," Mr Whitcher said. He was encouraged to return to university by some of his former pupils at Canterbury's Rangiora High School, where he taught classics, history and English.
His research project was investigating the impact of American culture in New Zealand from 1945 to 1965.
"When I was growing up I was aware of it ... in terms of movies and records. It has more or less been ignored, which surprised me."
Mr Whitcher does not feel out of place at university because of his age, pointing to a trend of more older people returning to study.
He originally studied at Canterbury University in the 1960s "but in some ways students today are much harder working, more dedicated".
"Many are balancing study and what is almost a full-time job to keep their student debt low."
The Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarships are awarded to students undertaking research at a New Zealand or overseas tertiary institution.
If the research is done overseas, the student must return to New Zealand for a period equal to that of the scholarship. The scholarships are administered by the Tertiary Education Commission.
