I have been interested in joining a lodge for 5 years and I finally dove in. It took that long for me to wrap my head around what I was doing. It was not a 5 minute decision.
I am not from a long line of Masons. In fact, I think I am the first in my family so I did not have much to pull on. My only exposure to a mason was when I met a man who was a childhood friend of my in-laws. I picked his brain for a while. He said if I have any serious thoughts about joining that I should not read about the rituals on the net.
I have experience with message forums so the first thing I did was google up "masonic forums" and landed on the one that appears first. I wont post links out of respect for this forum.
I've read public masonic discussions and knew what clandestine, irregular and regular lodges were before becoming a mason. Why certain states do not recognize PHA lodges etc.
After seeing several people metion freemasonry for dummies I went ahead and bought the book to do some more reading. However I still had no idea how involved the memory work was and what it was composed of. After being voted favorable I was told not to try and get a head start by reading something off the net or to look at the rituals for the degrees.
So "I've studied" for years but only to make an informed decision to go down to the lodge and speak to the guys about joining.
Without asking "what he studied" we might be judging someone harshly for doing due diligence to join the fraternity.
Edited: After being initiated I was thirsty for info. Our lodge holds educational classes a week or two after the degree. MM on down to the degree we are speaking about are allowed to attend. If it is for a FC explanation and you are a new FC you are strongly encouraged to attend
I found it refreshing to have a Past Mater break down the obligation and Inner Chamber lecture into plain english and answer questions. Sitting home between degrees is frustrating because asides from the memory work it feels like you could and should be doing so much more so like many others I seek out places like this to read and participate in.