Expanding my Reach: working in fields other than my own

12 October 2024

Deep down in my heart, though my M.A. studies ended quite a while ago, there is a part of me that is still an academic. I do not mean this in the stultifying, stuffed up way. Most of the academics I know have wonderful and irreverent senses of humor, and I’d like to think that I do as well. 

I mean academic in the sense of the love of the pursuit of knowledge. 

I love to know things about the world, about people, and systems. Curiosity has always been a motivation for expanding the fields in which I work. 

My background is in the Humanities- Jewish Studies, to be exact, and I have translated, edited, and written quite a bit in the field and subjects adjacent to it. However, sometimes I am faced with a project in an area I am unacquainted with. I’m always a little nervous about these projects, but mostly eager to learn something new.

Most people aren’t aware that there are vast systems of data and entitlements that go into the very idea of software as a service. And did you know that the laws regarding car insurance vary wildly whether you are in Illinois or New Jersey? Have you ever wondered about the opinions and experiences of the Baghdadian masses during the early Abbasid era?

Thanks to my job, I am now more than passingly familiar in all these fields, and isn’t that wonderful?

My life is richer the more I learn and explore and discover. 

For that I am grateful.