I remember when I won a week's drinking from the physics department at Warwick University

I was never a good student. Didn't go to many lectures. Just learned
what I could for the exams and I always managed to pass.

There was one lecturer who I remember. He used to teach well. Rather
than just write things on the board and let us scribble down notes he'd
make us think and understand what we were learning.

He taught a course on semiconductor physics if I remember right. It was
a course which interested me and I enjoyed his teaching style. To engage
students in thinking rather than copying down the stuff written on the
board he'd regularly ask questions to push our thinking and test if we
were using the information.

To make us more earnest to try and answer these questions he'd offer a
reward. It started as a pint but no one won it. Then it raised to a
night's drinking and still no one was able to answer his questions.
Finally it rose to a week's drinking paid for by him but still no one
managed to answer the questions he pose.

One day he was teaching about semiconductor lasers. This was back in the
day when people used to have CDs for music and films came on a cassette.
DVD wasn't around but we were learning about the technology which went
into it.

One of the problems with the development of better optical disc
technology was the lasers had a very short lifespan. They needed to last
at least three years but they'd break before then. He asked us why and
he offered a week's drinking as a prize.

It was one of those occasions where my brain kicked into gear. The
carrot on the stick probably helped. He counted down as he waited for an
answer. Towards the end of the countdown I blurted out something. It was
something along the lines of, "the material which makes up the laser
breaks down."

He paused. Then he asked why and restarted his countdown. With
milliseconds to spare I blurted out something like, "the higher energies
of the blue lasers destroy the crystal structure which creates them."

He replied, "bugger."

My fellow classmates were gobsmacked that this drunken dopehead got the
answer right. I never collected my prize but the prize was ...for a
brief moment... being the smartest guy in the room.

I wonder if it was the drink and drugs which helped to train my mind and
train me. After all, while others learned in structured ways I had to
learn to learn on my own and with the 'handicap' caused by drinking and
not going to lectures. My lifestyle and life choices forced me to be
able to think independently. I'd spend my time joking about in the
Student's Union instead of studying but this taught me how to improvise
with the information I was given.

Those who went to lectures and studied hard got good degrees and good
jobs. I scrapped through university but I learned a lot outside of the
lecture hall and managed to get a well paid graduate job despite my poor
grade from my degree.

From university I got something better than a degree. I got memories
like this one.