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  How Transport helped me make the Transition from student to graduate.

In the Beginning

   The Trip to Griffith was 38klms as the crow flies (or by bike) and took 40min (at nominated speeds).  If I was to survive Uni. then I needed to get from my study desk to lecture room seat in the minimum amount of time possible and I needed to do it consistently.  Public transport would have required two busses, an interchange delay, and the distraction of having to watch the clock.  The car would have been expensive and travel time extremely inconsistent.  So for me the bike was the only option.  Twenty something years since I left school made me feel that I would need to at least double the time normally required for assignments, study, etc.  This proved to be true and a bike enabled me to have that time.

Confidence builds on a CB400N

   This machine got me back in the saddle and ended a twenty plus year separation. I had to start somewhere.  I had to make sure that I still had it.  On the advice of a motor cycle instructor I went through a QLD Transport sponsored rider training course in order to reassure myself that I still had my nerve.  When semester one was over I was still in one piece.  I had not dropped the bike or hit anything so I found myself checking out the bike shops, again.  I was enjoying riding so much that the 400 was now not up to it.

Fun begins on the CB500E

   After having the 500 for 6 months I had completed my first year at Griffith and my InfoTech. results enabled me to apply for a transfer to a newly created combined degree.  When I applied to QTAC for entrance to Uni. I selected five degrees from G.U's Faculty of Science & Engineering. With only year 10 schooling I rated my chances of getting my first choice - Microelectronic Engineering, as slim.  However I did manage my fourth choice and thus phase one was complete.

   During the summer vacation I completed a mathematics short course at G.U.  Armed with all my results I obtained entrance into the MicroEng./InfoTech. degree.  Phase 2 was now complete.  Phase three was to survive the School of Sciences' mathematics, chemistry and Physics subjects (just what does a computer engineer do with an introduction to organic chemistry?).

   But I did survive the first semester and it was even money on my being successful in semester two.  My initial 3-year stint at G.U. had grown to 5 years (at least).  The 500 showed it's age mechanically so I went looking for a younger bike.  Besides with all this confidence and still no mishaps it was time to get max enjoyment out of riding to Uni.

Excitement grows on the VFR750F

  In shopping around for something to replace the 500 I found and fell for the VFR.  Trouble was the bike shop prices were more than my meagre funds could handle.  The solution was to upgrade privately.  Through the Just Bikes mag. I found the 750 at Tweed Heads.  The price was right and it had only 40 thousand on the clock.  The downside - it was in need of a new set of pipes and had a substantial crack in the upper faring.  But the latter had been repaired and did not detract from the bike's appearance.

   Once the VFR was in the garage I was able to advertise and sell the 500 through Just Bikes.  The VFR is very user friendly - it doesn't have a hair trigger but it can cause you to worry about your invincibility.  Together we explored a lot of the Brisbane valley during semester breaks.  The 750 was now all the bike I needed and besides my finances and the missus would not allow me to look over the fence.

   With the transport situation resolved I could now concentrate on completing phase 3 - all those science subjects designed to revise and extend year 12 knowledge.  That fact that I graduated shows I survived but a fellow mature age student didn't.  Like me - he too was an electrician and had transferred to the combined degree from InfoTech. but in the end went back to and completed the IT degree.  The only way I knew to get through that year was to cut my study load to 3-quarters.

   The reduced load gave me time to grapple with trigonometry, calculus, and probability; Newton's Laws, Thermodynamics, wave theory, and electricity and magnetism; chemical bonding, quantum theory, and the electronic structure of atoms.  It would mean that the degree would now take 6-years - not the normal 5.  The following year, Electromagnetic Theory proved to be the only obstacle that I could not jump on my first attempt.

   Unfortunately I could not afford to squeeze the second attempt into my 6-year program.  My mathematics and physics knowledge required continual revision and prevented me from adding to my study load.  Therefore it was necessary for me to add another semester to my program.  However this extension enable me to restructure my program so that I could complete an additional IT major.

   Phase 4 was to complete the IT side of the combined degree first.  By now I could see the possibility of getting a hat trick out of this 6 and a half years stint at Uni. - completing IT and Eng. with Honours.  However, if anything went wrong then I could at least get out with one degree.  After 5 years at G.U. phase 4 was complete, I had only engineering subjects left to go and could now begin phase 5 - obtaining the necessary credit in order to be included in the honours program.

   When the sixth year was behind me the final phase - the industry project, began.  By now money was in short supply partly due to maintenance of the Honda - not cheap bike to service, so I took a project where the company offered vacation employment.  This action also helped with the success of the project - it removed that low productivity stage during the beginning of the semester.

   As well as providing me with a project that enabled me to get the hat trick, Synergetic Engineering P/L gave me a job when the whole thing was over.  It was now necessary to retire the VFR.  I had clocked up over 55,000 klms and my mechanic recommended letting it go.  The VFR was a great one up machine and had been bought for that purpose. However a bike better able to handle the missus and me was what I needed now.  The Black Bird is almost as user friendly as the VFR - the increased weight making the difference, and like the VFR it can test your limitations.