At Tufts, a late-blooming student, and world traveler

Paul Demakis doesn't look like the other graduate students buzzing about the main lobby of Tufts University's Fletcher School on a recent afternoon. He's got textbooks under his arm and a backpack over his shoulder, but where's the almighty laptop?

''Oh, it's at home. It's on the fritz," he says.

Demakis, of course, stands out in other ways as well. He's the only student in the master of arts in law and diplomacy program who's served a decade with the state Legislature. The only student who's been a hearing officer with the state Appellate Tax Board. And at age 52, he's at least twice as old as his 20-something classmates.

A Back Bay liberal known for battling former House speaker Thomas Finneran when few others would, Demakis disappeared from politics about a year ago to become a full-time student. But his decision to leave the life he knew was hardly a midlife crisis: Demakis says he's thought for years about putting his skills as a Harvard-trained lawyer to use promoting development and democracy in the Third World.

''Even as early as my second term, or certainly by my third term, I started to think about the future," he says. ''You have to do that. I don't think [working in the Legislature] is the kind of job you should spend your whole life in."

Demakis, who expects to graduate in 2007, is in Venezuela this semester working for a nonprofit group fighting government corruption. City Weekly caught up with the former 8th Suffolk representative during a visit home, to find out what life as a student is like the second time around.

Q: What's tougher: cramming for a House bill debate, or cramming for a test?

A: Both jobs require lots of hard work, but in some respects it's tougher being a student than it is a legislator. And the reason is, you and only you are accountable for your work product in the end. Here I turn the paper in or I don't turn the paper in. I take the test and pass it or I don't take the test and pass it. A problem set is due the next day. You can't say, 'I'll have my aide do the problem set for me.' You do it and you're up until it's done.

Q: While in politics you were known as a contrarian. Are you the one guy in class who gives the professor a hard time?

A: (Smiles) No. Not at all.

Q: But your experience lends you views on the world that other students may not have.

A: I've had some experiences that have had some relevancy to here that other students have not had. But you know, they've had some experiences that I haven't had. And so I don't see this as me being sort of another teacher for them.

Q: When did you reach the decision to quit politics and start Fletcher?

A: I had a difficult primary challenge in 2002 because of redistricting. I ended up winning quite easily . . . but I came back and suddenly I found that my attitude toward the job was changing. I was getting tired of being out every night. I was getting impatient with people asking me to do things that they had every right to ask me to do. I was starting to show the signs of burnout because I had really approached the job in a very intense way for 10 years. I think it is so important to recognize warning signs on the job as soon as they start flashing. And I did.

Q: Your interest in the Third World -- has that always been something inside you?

A: I've always had a great curiosity about the world. But for a lot of reasons, and I kick myself for this, I did very little traveling. Then in 1992 I went to London and, you know, the genie was unleashed. And so I started doing a lot of traveling. In 1998 I went to Asia for a month, followed by Rio de Janeiro in 1999, Uruguay in 2000, and that was when I saw that I really enjoyed traveling in the developing world. When I was in Harvard College (as an undergraduate) I had no interest in international relations. I was an American government guy all the way. Funny the way life evolves.

Q: You announced you were leaving office in April 2004, just five months before Thomas Finneran announced he was stepping down. Had you known he was leaving, would you have stayed?

A: I had a very deep suspicion that he was leaving soon; I even told a colleague of mine. I asked myself, Would it make a difference? And the answer was no, because there were many other things that were causing me to leave. A desire for more time for myself, just a general fatigue with all the responsibilities of the job, many of which have nothing to do with the speaker of the House. I was ready to go.

Q: This took a lot of courage, didn't it?

A: I hate to use the word ''courage" to describe myself. I prefer the word ''risk." There were certainly risks involved, but in evaluating the risks I decided that they were not unreasonable -- they were manageable. The most serious risk for me was financial because I felt that I had not saved enough for my retirement. And doing this for two or three years doesn't help. But I decided in the end I was financially secure enough that I could do it and that the potential benefits outweigh by far the costs. So it was worth taking a chance.

Q: How much pizza have you eaten?

A: It's a funny question that I'm going to answer in a serious way. [School] has had a negative effect on my eating habits and my exercise. The only exercise I get is walking from Davis Square up to here and back.

Q: You're happy with your life right now?

A: I am happy with my life right now. And I am having fun.