ReZoom

Walking through the small college campus where he is an instructor, Jim Deppen hardly fits the stereotype of history professor. The traditional wrinkled corduroys have been swapped out in favor of clean, well-starched khakis. The ponderous shuffle has been replaced by an upbeat gait. In fact, Deppen looks more like the CFO of some big company, which is exactly what he was, until last year.

Deppen once nurtured a successful career as the Chief Financial Officer for Tennessee Women's Care, a medical group serving the gynecological needs of women in the Nashville area. As one half of a double-income-no-kids family, living in a fancy home in the venerable Nashville neighborhood of Green Hills, he seemed to have it made.

Then came the day that Deppen was laid off, just another casualty of corporate downsizing. What made the situation even more painful was the fact that his wife, Dr. Cathy Deppen, was a shareholder among the 40-odd doctors that owned the company.

For the next year, he tried to find similar jobs but always found himself overqualified. "It is tough, especially when you are at a stage of life when you have achieved the pinnacle of success in your field and you're planning for retirement," he said.

Finally, Deppen came to the realization that he could take this opportunity to realize his dream of becoming a history teacher. It had been an innate desire since high school, but after hearing his father tell that him he wouldn't make any money in academics, he gave up the dream and started filling out applications for business school.

Now 43, Deppen is using his passion for history to teach at the National College of Business and Technology, a 400-student career college located just outside of Nashville. That first day on the job, he taught the Marshall Plan, the plan that helped rebuild post-World War II Europe.

"That was the best day of my life," Deppen said, "because my dream came true."

Another, tangential dream came true last November, when Deppen was invited to join a team of historians in excavating some 1,400 artifacts left at the Battle of Meuse River-Argonne Forest. The World War I battle was made famous by Tennessee native Alvin C. York's successful attack on a German machine-gun nest.

"We found bullets, utensils, helmets and even ammunition," said Deppen. "It was extremely gratifying."

Deppen admits that the sudden change in finances is a concern. Still, while he mulls over the possibilities of going back to college to earn a teaching degree or setting up an internet company for historical research, he loves every second of what he is currently doing.

No wonder he seems so upbeat around campus.