I used to be a successful academic with a Ph.D., but now I'm a substitute teacher making $160 a day. I'm struggling to adjust.

The author is a substitute teacher. Courtesy of Robert Lynch I used to work on Wall Street, and then I became an academic and earned my Ph.D. Since I couldn't find a job in academia, I'm now a substitute teacher in North Carolina. I try not to think about my status in society anymore. Teaching is a grubby profession. Any romantic fantasy gets beaten out of you pretty quickly. Kids flip you off in the hallway, and a lesson you spent three hours preparing can go down the toilet in 10 minutes ...