If you are not aware, I am working on my Ph.D. through Liberty University. That is reason #1 why I have been absent here lately. I have so much I want to write about, but very little time.

Currently I am taking 2 comprehensive exam courses. One on Early Modern Europe and the other on Early American History. Both are taking the majority of my free time. And honestly I have thought about quitting a lot lately.

So, why am I getting a Ph.D.?

That is actually a good question. My current job is a high school history teacher and community college professor (part-time through dual credit). It won’t mean much more money in the long run for me. So, it is more about pride. And yes I know pride is a stupid thing most of the time. But it has been a personal goal of mine to do this program. Not to become the next H.W. Brands (a very popular University of Texas professor, author, and TV personality), but to become the first Dr. Bynum that I know in my family. There is probably one somewhere that I don’t know about.

Sure I would love to teach at a university one day, but a small one. I want to teach and do some research on the side, mostly about baseball honestly. I don’t want, nor do I think I would ever be qualified for, some huge university that does a lot of research.

I would love to build my own history of baseball course and teach it somewhere. That is one ultimate goal. But mostly I want it just because I have come so far already. I’ll be in my 50’s when I finish. So, I am not a spring chicken. But I have many more years ahead of me, I hope.

I Need to Get Published

The SABR Convention is coming to Dallas in the summer of 2025. Since, I live in Texas I plan on attending and I am pushing to be able to present something related to baseball in Texas at the convention. I want to get published and present papers. But I want to do it in the world of baseball. That is what interests me most. I want to be known as a baseball historian. So, you might see some stuff baseball related here from time to time, but I promise not to turn this into a baseball history blog.

Anyway, I am out of time for my current break. I am sitting in a Starbucks on a Sunday morning working on my assignments for my Early Modern Europe class, and I have a lot left to do.

Homework due Today:

Notes on 6 sources for Early Modern Europe (it is late – yikes). Comments on 2 fellow students posts (500 words each). Then for my Early US History class I have a critical book review and 2 posts on fellow classmates notes (500 words each).

That doesn’t count the outline I promised one of my classes for their next chapter tomorrow. I am behind by my own admission. Mainly because I was thinking of quitting again, but I am actually close. Well close but not close. After this semester I have 1 more comprehensive exam course and 1 course on my dissertation. I think in that course I have to decide on a topic and get it approved. Then It is just writing the dissertation and defending it. So yeah, close but not close.

Anyway, I got to get back to my notes. I have so many ideas for posts that I hope to squeeze a few in over the next few weeks.