Days at school and university are like suitcases you pick up and travel with the residue all of your life.

It can be any one of a myriad of circumstances or adventures that cause you to open one of these suitcases and draw upon the knowledge and experience contained within.

It is most unfortunate when children are not allowed for one reason or another to complete the educative process. I believe in a good education and by that I mean a time spent learning that results in the student understanding that the pursuit of knowledge, spans a lifetime.
The education process started for me at Haldane Primary, which was walking distance down the road from the family farm.

The years spent at Haldane were scholastically formative but of equal importance they allowed me the opportunity to mix with kids from the district.

This was the early 1950s and while we had a phone and a weekly supply of essentials, the chance to socialise with your neighbours was an "occasion."

My education in hindsight didn't in one sense take me to the levels I wanted to achieve, such as going to university. But it did bring to the fore what I believe is our family trait of cognition, look I have material evidence!

Experience has been a great teacher, and this plus a love of reading and conversation has equipped me for my 'life adventure'.

I remember the first day at secondary school, I was numb most of the time.

There were just so many other kids in the same place at the same time. I was staying at the Cold Stream Hostel in Herbert Street Invercargill and going to Southland Boys High. We went home for lunch and the first impression to me was a place full of passages and hallways, and swinging doors.

I ended up in the dormitories and it took me ten minutes to find my way to the dining room. By this stage everyone else was already seated. It was a very embarrassing, getting lost going for your lunch - I have never been late for a meal since.