Career Transition
I thought I would alert my readers to a sizable change in my life.
Since the time that I graduated with my Ph.D. in 2001, I have not found a permanent position in biblical studies. I have done adjunct teaching and once filled in for a semester for someone on sabbatical. My longest position was in Lithuania, and that job did not come with a salary. So far, I have not made a very good living as a biblical scholar.
Currently I am living in Massachusetts. My wife and I have separated. She has determined that she wants to live near her parents here, so I need to remain in the area to be near my kids. The likelihood of me being able to find a position in biblical studies in the area is slim. Although Massachusetts has a lot of universities, the chance of a full-time position coming open in one is low, and if one does come open I will only be one of a large number of applicants. Even if I were to get the job, it would probably not start until Fall 2008 at this point.
So, I am transitioning to a new career, at least temporarily. I have done web design from time to time for the past ten years, usually for churches and other non-profits. Because I enjoy web design and development, I started a program in graphic and web design today at Clark University’s College of Professional and Continuing Education. It is an eight month program with classes meeting for four hours each day. The rest of the time I will be working as a part-time cashier at The Home Depot. I also have a few contract jobs as a web designer.
For those of you who are worried wondering, this does not mean I will stop writing this blog. Right now this blog is about my only connection to biblical scholarship, so I plan to keep blogging, especially because I enjoy it too much to stop. My blogging has been a little slower for the past two month while I have been trying to deal with a number of issues concerning career and family, but I should be back to full speed soon.
In the meantime, if any one needs a freelance web designer, let me know. The template for this blog was written by someone else, but I have modified it heavily. I also wrote a Joomla template to match this one, and I use that on non-blog portion of this site. You can also see my work at the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars site, which I also did.
It is difficult not to be doing biblical scholarship full time, and the situation with my marriage has made things even more difficult. I would appreciate any prayers that my readers might offer up on my behalf.
On June 30th, 2007 at 6:20 am
I’ll add you and yours to my prayer list. All the best with the freelancing … and please keep blogging/connected.
On June 30th, 2007 at 7:00 am
I’ll keep you in your prayers, particularly for your family situation. I hope it all works out.
On June 30th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Sorry to hear your news. You will be in my prayers. And do keep blogging, not least to keep your enthusiam alive.
On June 30th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Sorry about your falling on such hard times. I felt so bad for you, I read your blog to my wife. We both will keep you in our prayers.
On June 30th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I also pray for you, and also hope you keep blogging!
On July 2nd, 2007 at 12:41 am
I hope and pray that things turn out well for you. I enjoy your blog. I don’t always respond, but I find your thoughts interesting.
On July 7th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
[…] there’s more to it for me than that. Kevin Wilson, noting a difficult personal time, said of his blog: Right now this blog is about my only connection to biblical scholarship, so I […]
On October 10th, 2007 at 10:45 am
[…] misses about academia and some of the things she doesn’t. I found it an enjoyable read. My own situation is similar to hers, not only in the fact that I am currently (and hopefully temporarily) not […]