My Dad

Three days ago my Dad died.

He was a major force in my educational history, so I'm going to share a few things with you concerning how he inspired me.

He believed passionately in lifelong learning. When his eyesight failed him, he read audio books and when his hearing failed him he read audio books AT HIGH VOLUME. He never stopped taking in new knowledge.

When I told him I was considering applying for university at the age of 27 he said, "about bloody time!" He could have said 'play safe and keep your job', but he didn't.

He also believed that nothing's worth doing if it's easy. When I was at uni this phrase drove me nuts. WHY COULDN'T IT BE EASY??? He'd shrug and say, 'because then anyone could do it'.

I hope you have someone who encourages, provokes, inspires or supports you. I'll be back at uni next week so if you want a lend of any of my Dad's words of encouragement you've only to ask.

I know he'd have liked that.

Do you feel like a student yet?

How do you become a student?

Sign up to a course? Well that's the first step but fundamentally that means you've completed some basic admin. I don't think that makes you a student.

How about attend some lectures? Well you can be in a room and learn next to nothing if you're not engaged. Attending lectures could mean you've managed to read your timetable-it doesn't make you a student.

Write assignments? I suppose that's part of it, but you can probably pass things with the minimum effort. I've passed things without learning much of note. It didn't make me a student.

Here's what I think - students are created from a desire to learn new things, to test the parameters of our own understanding and to take pleasure in the slow revealing of new knowledge. That isn't always straightforward, in fact it's often the exact opposite. We don't like uncertainty or feeling out of our depth. Well guess what? That's part of becoming a student too. It shouldn't be easy.

We have all at some point read academic material that we haven't understood but persevered nevertheless. That's how you become a student.

We have all juggled the academic and the personal and somehow managed both areas. That's how you become a student.

We have all regretted starting something but refused to give in. That's how you become a student.

But eventually, slowly, through progress that sometimes feels like root canal treatment, you increase your understanding.

And one day you wake up with a working knowledge of your topic and enough confidence to tell other people about what you know. Guess what? At that point you're a student.

How to be curious about everything

The major development at home this Summer has been the arrival of two kittens called Arya and Audrey. If you don't like cats then a) this post is probably not for you and b) WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU???? But that aside, they are fluffy and purry and little and utterly gorgeous in every way.

They're also madly curious about everything they come across.

It doesn't matter if it's a worm, a shoe, an empty box or a piece of fluff, everything has to be examined from every angle, prodded, thrown up in the air and eventually tested for edibility. 

The more I watch their indefatigable curiosity, the more I think what a brilliant outlook it must be; to see potential and wonder in any encounter with every new thing. 

They seem to see opportunity in everything. 

So when we shortly reconvene for another year of assignments, shenanigans, turmoil and triumphs, one of my messages will be to 'be curious'. Try and take pleasure in the finding of new things, new theorists, new music and new friends. This isn't one of those hypocrisy moments either - I'm going to be learning about new areas of research this year, and as mad as it may sound I think it's partly inspired by Arya and Audrey taking pleasure in the thrill of the new.

So here's to curiosity and every social science student (and kitten) who looks at the world as a giant adventure playground.