Back in Virginia

I was once told by one of my first employer’s years ago that the role of the employer is to, “nurture and not torture”. In that she meant that those in power have a responsibility to support those who dedicate not only their time but in many cases their lives to common pursuits of manual and intellectual labor in which even the humblest of laborers could take pride that the small work that they do is not in vain or for singular self absorption. With the upcoming Second Interest Meeting of the Virginia Maritime Heritage Society and as I try to debug my thesis on my own with only my humble singular intellect to follow as I am not tied into any intellectual feedback, I find myself pondering these words once again.
I began my studies abroad in the field of maritime archaeology with the hopes and dreams of helping others, the ultimate aspiration of the society who raised me. What I find however, as I have traveled and gone down this road is the fact that I am more alone now than I ever was as a student in community college. I am writing my thesis after all in the same house as the last one, for the only reason that I think it is important to be written and well researched. It luckily, ties in with my background, as I am a clockmaker of the pre-mass production mindset, and the clocks that I restore as I write my thesis give me the background knowledge to write something which is not full of overarching historical statements which have little basis outside of academic penmanship.
I was once accused of having no redeemable academic qualities, but behind this was a friend’s deep concern that I would not compromise my hardworking integrity. I to this day do not like people calling me “sir”, for I have neither the age nor the standing in the community to have earned such a distinction. My workman’s humility was the same reason why when I was asked to chair my own session at a Geological Society of America at the age of 21, I politely turned the committee’s request down as it would have been “…arrogant presumption to presume that I was the only speaker with the knowledge and place to dictate unto others.” As I humbly debug my thesis and try to do the best job I can as I mow peoples yards, pave driveways, and clean clocks; keep this humility which was so alien to my academic counterparts’ minds close to my heart but with pride and without fear or resentment for the hand I have been dealt. I will work the hardest that any student with student debt which must be paid off and travel tickets to book can be expected to with the best hopes for the same mindset of those who come to the interest meeting to match. We all work towards the same goal; that of the stewardship of the past.
I am not the only one and never have been, I value all opinions. I seek all counsel to learn and help others. I have learned, however, as I climb the “Ivory Tower” that family is important above all else and no-one will take care of you or your own dreams as well as you can. So while I am dedicated to the cause of preserving the submerged cultural heritage of the world, and Virginia in particular, perhaps my colleagues and fellows in the field will find space in their academic hearts to let this worker take a break and let him take the time to show his new love the New World this October.



Sincerely,
Jason Lunze.