Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelBlue
CHC, after doing all of that work why would you even consider not finishing that PhD?
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Well, writing a diss is really no small matter. It'll probably take a full-time chunk of about 2.5 to 3 years to finish. I'm not one of these that can whip a dissertation out in a year to a year and a half. The second issue is that if I can teach what I want to teach without playing the academic games (research > publishing > tenure) I'd be more than happy. In fact, the view from the inside of academia was kind of scary at times, and I question whether becoming a prof would be good for my family in the long run. Third, even if I wished, I don't have much of an opportunity to play the academic game in Utah Valley. UVSC would pretty much be my only shot and that is a small basket to put your eggs in. And if I'd like to keep my family intact, which I do, and allow my wife to live her dream, which I do, then this is where it's at for me. Oh, and fourth, I can't and/or won't teach at the Y. Not religion, anyhow. And there are too many Mormons doing real classics programs to have any hope of a career in the classics dept, I think.
But hell, I'm just glad to have gotten the education I did. It changed my life for the better, for a huge number of complicated reasons involving both myself and my family, and I'll be forever glad I did it. Teaching NT, Early Judaism, and OT lectures and recitations was one of the highlights of my life as well. But, who knows, anything can happen, and time will tell.