27 Years of Education

I just realized the other day that I am old.

Ok, I am still young in the profession and new at many things, but I have been around for a while.  Someone asked me how many years I had been studying.  I had to count them up.  When I did I realized that this is my 24^th year of formal education.  If one were to add the three years for the PhD program here at UCL that I hope are in my future, it will amount to 27 years of education!

27 years!  I was 27 years old when I first met my future wife!  27 years is older than most of my classmates here at UCL!  When I finish with my PhD from here, I will be 41 years old.  Simple math informs, then that only 14 years of my life (at that point) will have been spent not studying something as a student!  But when one factors in that I have been a teacher for 4 of those 14 years, I will have only spent 10 years of my life in non-academic related activity.

For those who find it hard to believe, let me just run through my educational experience:

1 year in Kindergarten (in Valley City, North Dakota)

8 years in American Elementary School (all over the USA – 7 different schools in 8 years)

4 years in American High School (all at Ozark Adventist Academy)

½ year at a Technical School (where I dabbled in a career as an electrician)

2 years at Southern Adventist University (then Southern College) as a Physical Education major

½ year at Oklahoma State University (in Oklahoma City – all A’s)

3 ½ years at Adventist University of the Philippines (finishing two BA’s - Religion and Theology – as suma cum laude in both)

3 ½ years at Andrews University (taking a Masters of Divinity with emphasis in Archaeology – all A’s)

1 year at University College London (taking my Masters in Egyptian Archaeology)

3 years at University College London (earning a PhD in Egyptian Archaeology – still to come)

Now if I did the math right - that is 27 years.

It is always nice to look back at one’s own history and see how God has led you and where He is taking you.  Now I don’t recommend that anyone follow my footsteps (as they wander all over) but I do recommend that you remain in your own.  Each of us are special.  Each of us has a purpose to fulfill in life.  Each of us has something to contribute to society.  For me, I can see that I have been given the gift of education.  I am a good teacher, I love research, I love to communicate, and I love discovery and helping others discover.

Maybe this love of acquiring new knowledge has led me to the love archaeology.  Certainly I do love finding something that has been “lost” to the memory of the world and revealing it so others can benefit.

27 years…it has been worth every moment.