by
Larry Pearce
5/6/22
Larry in Stocks (c. 1979),
Williamsburg, VA:
What it feels like working
to support a young family
I still joke that I couldn’t hold a job. Truth is that I’ve had a terrific variety of work, ranging from odd jobs up to what could be considered careers. Of course any number of circumstances led up to my taking the various positions over the years, and I’ll share some of my experience doing the work. I’ll also reveal my feelings on leaving the opportunities when I did. Most of the time there was some connection between preparing for the jobs, such as having worked part-time at a similar post or earning a teaching degree while filling in as a substitute when I couldn’t find a permanent position. Then eventually I landed in the most fulfilling career of all, teaching for 21 years at the college level. Sometimes an unpaid hobby, such as serving as a broadcaster in my undergraduate years while working on that teaching degree, led to over 20 years in the commercial field, which included management, on air, and sales. That last position in turn led to financial consulting, something I’m still engaged in. Other professional services, such as church music, I consider a ministry and will devote all of Chapter 5 to my preparation and experience. Looking back now, I see my worklife having fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, one grand design planned by my Maker.
This chapter, entitled “My Life’s Work,” concentrates on the secular and is divided into three sections: A. First & Last, Odd Jobs to Investment Rep; B. Broadcasting; and C. Teaching. All this is to say that, when we start out earning a living for ourselves and/or our families, we just don’t know where we’ll end up. But, coming from a work-oriented family helped me get started in some unusual part-time jobs until I got my degree and my wife, then it was a lifetime of interesting and satisfying earning opportunities, some of which continue today. Let’s start as a elementary student back in Chapter Two: Cooperstown.
Move to Chapter 4A: My Life’s Work – Odd Jobs to Investment Rep
Return to: Table of Contents
Last revised: 5/27/22