Thanks to Ben Byerly for his post and links on more reasons not to do a PhD.  Of course I’m trying to be a little bit funny, but more often than not some of us academics only laugh to keep from crying.  I will be feeling and have felt this pinch already.  My wife and I are both from the South.  And, here in the South we don’t generally like to move away from our families.  As an anecdote, my dad said that when he was in college not many people even came to South Louisiana to recruit because people here generally stayed home.

At any rate, the harsh reality is that there isn’t a big demand for Hebrew scholars here in South Louisiana.  So, the options may be 1) try to find a job in my area of specialization elsewhere, 2) try to find a job that is related here at home (related to Biblical Hebrew?), 3) none of the above (whatever that means or looks like).  Fortunately, I have a job now where I work with young people and my employer gives me time to pursue my other interests.  For instance, I do a good bit of scripture study stuff in my parish (and of course I blog and run my website).  So, I guess that currently classifies under #2. And, right now I’m happy with that.  With that said, I guess I’ll go ahead and finish my doctoral degree anyway.

Of course, if all of you clicked on my Amazon links and constantly bought tons of expensive stuff, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that.  But, …