My Fun Job List
(and now with my schools , too)
James Hayes-Bohanan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Geography
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.
(Marge Piercy, To be of use)



My offical curriculum vitae tells only part of the story. This fun list of jobs I have held (not to imply that they were all fun!) is an attempt to record the wide variety of work I have done. I have listed here every kind of paid work I have done, including freelance consulting and temp work (only a few of these jobs are through temp agencies, though). Surprisingly, I've never waited tables or tended bar.

Some of these lasted only a couple of days (such as my house-painting gig) or a couple of hours (such as selling USA Today - I was shocked that people were actually buying it). Until the very end of the list, every job was held either concurrently with school or during a brief hiaitus. I did all of the jobs in Maryland while I was an undergraduate and all of the jobs in Texas and Arizona while I was working on my doctorate.

The main reason I have prepared this list is so that my students who have jobs will believe me when I say I understand what a challenge it is to work and go to school. I really do understand, and I still say: SCHOOL COMES FIRST ! The other reason for the list is to help me remember all of my jobs. From time to time in recent years I would be reminded of a job that I had given no thought for years.

I made no attempt at chronological order, though my current (and, I hope, my last!) job is near the end of the list, followed by some consulting work I have done concurrently.
 
Employer Job Location
Small-time real estate investor Painting houses bought at government auction - the only job from which I was ever fired South Baltimore, MD
Medical research company
Pin cushion -- testing the safety and reliability of a sinus medication -- one day in a  hospital waiting room for $25
Baltimore, MD
George Washington University
Research subject -- participating in a study of couples in relationships -- a few interviews with my sweetheart for $30 (shared)
Washington, DC
University of Maryland Baltimore County Admissions Office student worker Catonsville, MD
University of Maryland Baltimore County Bookstore Clerk Catonsville, MD
Unitarian Universalist Church Director of Religious Education Silver Spring, MD
Apartment-management company Secret shopper Tucson, AZ
Stock broker Word processing - for about two hours! Tucson, AZ
Law Office Putting Bates number labels on court documents - BORING! Tucson, AZ
Right Away Foods / Wornick Company Data entry McAllen, TX
Right Away Foods / Wornick Company Software trainer/guru McAllen, TX
Right Away Foods / Wornick Company National and international marketing McAllen, TX
Right Away Foods / Wornick Company President's assistant - various projects McAllen, TX
Miami University - Hamilton Instructor, Physical geography Hamilton, OH
University of Texas at Brownsville in Partnership with Texas Southmost College (That is the real name of the school!) Instructor, Environmental geography Brownsville, TX
Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University - Kingsville Instructor, World regional geography Alice, TX (extension program of TAMU-K)
University of Arizona Instructor, Computer cartography Tucson, AZ
University of Arizona Teaching assistant Tucson, AZ
University of Arizona Research assistant Tucson, AZ
Miami University Teaching assistant Oxford, OH
Miami University Research assistant Oxford, OH
Miami University Editorial assistant Oxford, OH
Miami University Computer lab assistant Oxford, OH
Miami University Visiting professor Hamilton ! , OH
University of Maryland Dining Services Pizza baker (nasty, nasty job!) College Park, MD
Wendy's Burgers, fries, and Frosty's Annapolis, MD
Burger King Just burgers Annapolis, MD (across the street from Wendy's)
Stan Stearns Assistant to famous photographer Annapolis, MD
Fraternal Order of Police Telephone Fundraiser Annapolis, MD
University of Maryland By day: Find lost alumni who had never donated to the University
By night: Ask them for money, even if they had graduated 70 years before without ever giving
I actually was quite successful for a couple of months
This job is where I learned to drink coffee!
College Park, MD
USA Today Telemarketer Baltimore, MD
Credit card protection company Telemarketer Washington, DC
Kansas City Star Newspaper delivery Kansas City, MO
Baltimore Sun Newspaper delivery Baltimore, MD
D.N. Landscaping Lawn and landscape planting and maintenance Baltimore, MD and surrounding towns
Wealthy gypsy family
Hanging outdoor Christmas lights
Baltimore, MD
Dames & Moore Geographer and Assistant Regulatory Analyst Cincinnati, OH - but working on projects throughout Ohio and in IN, KY, MO, TN, SC, TX, NY, NJ, PA, and PR
This job really helped with my County Map!
Lucas Brothers Office Supply Store (the oldest in U.S.) Retail clerk Annapolis, MD
UMBC Student Government Assocation
Usher, Rocky Horror Picture Show
Catonsville, MD
Polk city directory publishers Door-to-door surveys for criss-cross directory Annapolis, MD
Clean Water Action Project Door-to-door fundraising Baltimore, MD and surrounding towns
Petroleum Solutions Environmental Environmental site assessments McAllen, TX
Drug store chain Data entry for a class-action lawsuit Pharr, TX
Amphitheater School District Substitute teacher, K-12: art, math, science, gym, English, Spanish, history - everything but geography Tucson, AZ
McAllen school district Substitute teacher, 8th grade football only McAllen, TX
Baptist Book Store Shipping clerk Lutherville, MD
Bay Savers program Team leader for youth conservation workers Annapolis, MD and surrounding coastal areas
Bridgewater State College Geography professor (which itself entails a lot of jobs)  Bridgewater, MA
Signature Graphics and Signs Web site developer Quincy, MA
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (textbook publisher) Web site developer New York, NY
Thinkronize Search engine developer Cincinnati, OH
Prentice Hall Book reviewer Upper Saddle River, NJ

Fun School List

I've almost always enjoyed school, and I have attended quite a few:

For Credit
Sully Elementary, Sterling, VA
Nokesville Elementary, Nokesville, VA (I recently learned that this school had been racially integrated only a year or two before I started attending!)
Brentsville District Middle/Senior High School, Nokesville, VA
Northgate Middle School, Kansas City, MO
North Kansas City High School, North Kansas City, MO
Annapolis High School, Annapolis, MD
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Catonsville, MD
Miami University, Oxford, OH
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Non-Credit
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO
Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, PUE, Mexico
South Texas Community College, McAllen, TX
ESRI Virtual Campus, Redlands, CA



Return to my Not-the-13th-Grade page.
Any questions? Contact me at jhayesboh@bridgew.edu .
James Hayes-Bohanan, Ph.D.
Bridgewater State College
Revised: February 19, 2009