Time to take my own advice, very belatedly

AS A LIFELONG student of life, many lessons have been learned.

The first of these, as a toddler, was the power of the word "No" and its boon companion, the word "Why".

The next major step in the waltz towards adolescence was the more demanding challenge of 'Why not?'. To paraphrase the Borg in Star Trek, this was the equivalent of repeating over and over in a grating tone that "Resistance is useful".

The undergraduate study of the teenager in search of a reason to rebel then became immersed in loud music, bad poetry and the improbable fashion of bell-bottom jeans.

All this was tempered by parents who looked on with concern in the hope that this was just a stage and it would soon pass. What did pass was a succession of jobs that defined what I did not want to do and the notion there was more over the horizon. Following an independent streak that led overseas to places far and foreign provided more lessons in how the world turns at great speed and will not stop just because you want to get off.

The study of life extended to research into the reasons songs are written and how to make a guitar do the things your ears can hear. The years spent making music to earn a living taught much about the art of living with every performance an exam that tested what you did and did not know and a pass or fail immediately signalled by the audience.

Then came children, family and, as a parent, the realisation that your own parents did actually know some useful stuff. The parenting assignments came one after another, with each child providing a new textbook on being a father. Although these tests were a long time ago now, the final results and marks are coming in as the kids are all grown up now.

Now, as of this week, I am an actual student taking on academic papers for the first time in a very long time. The plan is to complete, over the next year or so, a post-graduate qualification started many moons ago. The questions "why and why not" were very much on my mind as I sat in class surrounded by students of all ages and backgrounds. They all seem so bright eyed, bushy tailed, knowledgeable and confident that it inspires a sense of purpose to sit among them.

The "why" is answered best by the "why not". It fits with the notion that we never stop learning and because the opportunity has presented itself at this point in my life. The other reason is that many years ago I wrote a song with a chorus that went: "It's never too late and never too soon" and I thought it might be time to take my own advice.

There is so much to absorb and it will require weekly trips to Wellington to attend lectures. The calendar of assignments and exams seems impossibly concertinaed into a few weeks. There is so much to read, research, understand recycle into essays that it will require more coffee and ink than is probably wise. In research terms I have a hypothesis - if I can get my head around all the learning then I will be wiser for it.

Terry Sarten is a Whanganui-based writer, musician, social worker and now part-time student. Feedback to tgs@inspire.net.nz.