full circle

Background info:  In college I had some incredibly talented classmates.  Some of these guys were light-years beyond me in academia (you know who you are).  After my college graduation in 1999 I wanted to go on for further study of the Bible.  I could not, however, readily identify a PhD program (or even an MA program) that seemed like a good fit.  I decided to wait until some of my talented friends had become professors so I could study under them.  So while I had babies and moved overseas as a missionary and back, these guys went on to earn their MA's and PhD's at impressive schools like the University of Wisconsin, Duke, Notre Dame, Emory, and Oxford.  One of them landed a job teaching at Harvard Divinity School (I told you they were smart!). Meanwhile, Wheaton started my dream PhD program with a focus in Biblical Theology and it was a no-brainer to apply. 

Ironic moment:  So here I am in my study carrel in the Wheaton library, diving into my coursework for my very first PhD seminar.  I'm required to read a book called Interpreting Isaiah: Issues and Approaches.  It's a book full of essays by a variety of scholars, including Richard Schultz, the professor of our course.  Imagine my surprise to see that one of the chapters is written by Jake Stromberg, a former classmate!  Jake has made use of his time since college by earning an MA at UW, a PhD from Oxford, teaching at Duke, Oxford, and UNC, and publishing two books on Isaiah, including his dissertation.  So while things didn't quite work out the way I had imagined (that is, I'm not taking classes from one of my college friends), I'm still benefitting from their work.  How cool is that?!