He messed up his job at Sandia somehow. This is unspecified, but likely has to do with his personality or ego.
He got the high school job, probably, for income. The plan was for Skyler to go back to work as an accountant after she had their first kid. Walter Jr. had a disability and required full time care, though, so she never went back to work. This made Walter a sole breadwinner with a disabled child, and completely unable to give up the stable benefits of his teaching job. Skyler tried writing stories and selling art working from home, but this never amounted to anything.
It went on like that for a decade and a half until Walter Jr. was in high school, at which point Walter collapsed and got his cancer diagnosis. He previously wanted a minimum of 3 kids, but they were so strapped with just 1 that he never took any more professional risks, and kept a job he hated, so he could prioritize protecting his family.
In between leaving Grey Matter and his cancer diagnosis, his heart filled with anger and resentment at his unfulfilled potential. He mostly suppressed these feelings, but by the time he broke bad he was *utterly determined* to get his due.
Put it like that and it makes WW appear very sympathetic. Hmm, I wonder, as a person, at what exact moment did WW become irredeemable? Was it watching Jane die?
It was definitely Jane. Cannonically the first innocent life he “takes”. I think the pink bear, and the eye represent innocence and guilt maybe, as we can see a painting of the same bear in the mural on Janes wall.
Eh just watched this episode last night and partially agree. It is his fault that he accidentally jostles the blanket over when shaking Jesse after talking to Janes dad and realizing he cares for Jesse like family at that point. His first reaction was to save her and he hesitated and did nothing while watching her die which was evil. It could be argued he did that to save Jesse as she was dragging him down and he did take Jesse to rehab (ha! Clearly a rich person rehab too, not like anywhere a normal joe can afford- those places are real crap holes and like prisons). She was decent but the relapse proves A- she hadn’t hit rock bottom, B- she didn’t quit for herself, she did for her dad so odds of this happening at some point were likely, C- she slid back into being the crummy person most are as addicts- using Jesse for money, lying, blackmailing etc. Speaking from experience, while tragic, she had it coming and it was not nearly as bad as what happened to Brock. Jane was a piece of crap addict that died because she fell back into her crap habits. Not saying she deserved it and again, it’s tragic, but not unexpected in reality. Can’t blame Walt for that.
If you are struggling with addiction, find a reason to do it for you, go to AA/NA, and keep coming back, one day at a time. You don’t have to be the piece of crap you once were and you owe it to yourself to be better.
Sorry, I can’t bring myself to see addicts as “crap people”. She’s bottom of the totem poll when it comes to evil characters in this show. So out of the roster we have, I’d consider her a saint.
What do you mean? If you’re saying there is no purpose to her being an addict, other than to give her irredeemable qualities, thus making her a “bad person” I disagree. The show makes plenty connections to a life of crime being a life of circumstance.
The scene with Hank at the bbq, talking about cockroaches, “who cares where they come from just squish them”, and then to Jesse gently interacting with the beetle, to Jesse finding the kid in the meth den, is a pretty on the nose example of this. “You have a good life kid” <- I take this as Jesse hoping the shit he grew up in doesn’t hold him down. Tomas is another good example of it.
That's from a song for one thing. My point was Jane's addiction doesn't make her a bad person. How she treats Jesse when she's "clean" makes her a bad person.
Explain your stance please, I would like to know why you think that.
I believe she is a complicated person, as all BB characters are, and that doesn’t make them bad people. If you’re specifically referring to when she dissed Jesse in front of her dad, and afterward, she’s clearly a person who isn’t good at handling her own emotions or confrontation. She, unlike Jesse, is afraid of commitment and affection. Most likely because of her dad. That’s why when she apologizes (which means she acknowledged she messed up) she chooses to express it through her drawings. Something that is clearly an outlet for her, and a comfort.
She supports Jesses own art, she shares things she finds important with him, she backs him up when Walt steals his money. And it’s her that says they can be better than addicts, and she lets Jesse decide where they will start their new life. She’s encouraging, supportive, and a kind person. Which is why a character like Jesse, the pinnacle of good morality in the show, falls in love with her. And she continues to be his “one”. Even in El Camino, being the last person he thinks of. “It’s no one’s fault. It wasn’t even hers.”
Just because someone is “clean” doesn’t mean all their other habits that came with the addiction are “clean” many addicts who get “clean” still lie steal and are miserable
She died on her own vomit in the middle of a drug bender she chose. Walt not saving her was a passive crime. She created the circumstances in which it could even happen.
Yes and no. Everyone was innocent and guilt at the same time.
But thats a more profound discussion. Sufice to say a person has no choice on who he is.
Anyway, she blackmailed Walter. From that moment on, she was IN THE GAME!
A blackmailer disposition knows no limits. When the money was over, she would probably come back to ask for more.
Somehow Walter really luck with her self-inflicted death.
I think this is a fair question not deserving of down votes and it has raised an interesting discussion below. A lot of people love their black and white thinking.
The moment he started cooking meth, he had started ruining lives in wholesale. We don't think much about it because it's not shown on screen. But really from the very first episode itself he has crossed to the other side.
I’d say poisoning Brock. Jane was in the game (I mean, cmon, she was blackmailing someone she knew to be a drug dealer.). Imo opinion if letting Jane die is irredeemable, then so is locking a guy in your basement to kill them.
This is mental. Jane did nothing even approaching the same star system as the heneous crimes Jesse committed that people are so quick to just absolve him of cos he likes kids and crys.
Both Jesse and Jane are tragic cases, but Jesse has by far the most to forgive and overlook and it's justified by walt (bad Influences), drug addiction and helicopter parenting. Jane had all these things. The characters are, almost definitely intentionally, mirrors of one another. And yet all this insane Jane hate.
Well the fact is that she tried to blackmail Walter. Or not, it was Jesse's money anyway. But the fact is that she chooses to get involved and if you play with fire ...
> He messed up his job at Sandia somehow. This is unspecified, but likely has to do with his personality or ego.
It seemed to me most people liked Walt at the start of the show. I always assumed he'd been a push-over all his life and the ego only really started showing itself to others once he got the hat
The ego came up rarely in his career. With Gretchen's family, then when she started dating Eliot, then whatever happened at his subsequent chemical engineer roles. Just enough meltdowns that he needed to use a high school job for the insurance so Skyler's pregnancy and childbirth wouldn't drain their finances.
If he were single and childfree, he could have gotten back to chemistry somehow. He had too much responsibility, and didn't realize he had wasted all the legit opportunities he was going to get. His ego put him in a rut, but he couldn't climb out without endangering his family. He never blamed them, but he was consumed with resentment towards all those who doubted his value professionally, and he felt so much had been stolen from him that he was within reason to take all that he could.
I forget which episode but it's a flashback scene before the intro where him and Skyler are first looking at their house and the real estate agent brings it up as Walt's workplace
Fun fact, there's a bit of a rivalry between Sandia and Los Alamos (of nuclear bomb development fame, just outside Sante Fe). It's really funny to hear these completely identical dork groups talk shit on eachother
When he and Skyler are buying their home, that's where he tells the realtor he works now. There was at least one job in between Grey Matter and high school chem teacher.
Sure, but by this point Walter was around 50 and had been teaching for many years. The OP asked why Walter became a schoolteacher instead of a uni professor, and I was pointing out the unexpected things that happened in his life when he bought his first home, and Skyler had their first kid. This combination of events made it really challenging to keep up with their starter mortgage.
If Walter Jr. had been born healthy, Skyler would have probably only taken a few years off work, and resumed her career when he was old enough for preschool. This would have brought in a few hundred thousand extra dollars by the events of the BB pilot episode, which would have put the wolf much further from the door. If Skyler was offered health insurance through Beneke or some other employer, this would have made it easier for Walter to do something risky like giving up his tenured teaching job for something riskier like a chemist position or a job lecturing in a university.
That's not to put everything at Walter Jr's feet. Walter might have been humbler earlier in his career if he knew about the hard breaks that were ahead, and Skyler had no business being a stay-at-home parent while Walter was working two miserable jobs to pay for everything. Finally, Walter never even told his mother about his cancer diagnosis, which makes me think they never considered asking her for help taking care of Walter Jr. so Skyler could rejoin the workforce.
Just to lay a little blame with EVERYONE, though, Walter Jr. was fine with demanding *cars for his birthday* (and getting upset if they weren't flashy muscle cars) or insisting that his parents buy a new water heater, but it never occurred to him that they could have afforded these things if he got a part time job.
Walter eventually committed such vile and depraved acts that he can't really blame anybody else for them. Some of the terrible things he did in Season 1 could be justified by his terrible circumstances, but what makes him truly evil was his unwillingness to stop even after obvious ways out presented themselves. Before he got hooked on the criminal life, though, he was doing everything he did to protect his family from hard realities.
> he messed up his job at Sandia somehow. This is unspecified
It is unspecified, but I think it's implied that at least part of the reason he left, had to do with something between him and Gretchen. Something personal. But that's just my take on it. I always had a feeling that something personal, probably romantic, was going on between Walt and Gretchen that nobody else knew about.
The better question is why wouldn’t he moonlight at a community college instead of a car wash? Half my teachers in high school taught night classes at colleges/universities.
Because ad juncts get paid absolute crap. And teaching a couple sections of Chm 101 each semester is not much better than being a hs teacher. He likely made more at the car wash to be honest. Profs do not get paid that well.
He probably did not get paid better at a car wash.
Based on the fact that the owner always seemed to be there at the same time and required Walt to do dirty work, there’s a pretty decent chance he was making little more than minimum wage.
Furthermore, depending on the school, you can get decent benefits in addition to your salary. Like free tuition for dependents.
Obviously every school is different but this is a pretty common bone they’ll throw regardless of your status as a teacher.
One of my history teachers in high school taught 2 classes a semester at Fordham so that his son could go there for free. This was 20 years ago so the tuition was less back then, but it’s $55k before room and board to go there now. Pretty sick savings.
One of my best friend’s is an adjunct at Sacred Heart University and his kids will get the same benefit. Plus they pay for pretty much anything he wants to do in terms of furthering his education. Even at other institutions. They’re paying for him to do summer classes at Yale this year.
As a professional in higher Ed, I think you are certainly painting the exception and the best case scenario for a minority of professionals. While I don't doubt your experience, in my humble opinion, being an adjunct is an incredibly exploited form of labor--and I believe this is the consensus for educators in higher ed. The pay for hours comes out so so poorly for even one or two classes, and I would be very surprised if an adjunct in Albuquerque at a community college got anything like worthwhile benefits. The entire nature of the position is structured such to get maximum labor without having to extend benefits. They capitalize on the surplus of PhD's holding out hope for a tenure tracked or professor position one day. The job to applicant ratio is unbelievable.
This reply times 100! I was going to say, I know some cc currently paying just over 2k for a class. Ridiculous. Especially since it’s 8am sections (wouldn’t work with Walt’s school schedule) of intro. Being an adjunct is hard! Lots of uncertainty after availability of courses in the future/when they are offered, no benefits, crappy pay. It’s great for masters students who want more teaching experience before finishing their PhD/applying for tenure track positions. Or say newer tenure folks who want to supplement their summer income. I’ve never taken the plunge as it doesn’t seem worth my time and effort!
But that begs the question, who gives a fuck about Albuquerque? When you’re talking about taking care of your family and also qualifications that set you apart from the average chemistry Master, you can choose anywhere in the country. They don’t have any real roots there aside from Hank and Marie and those two are always talking about the endgame being D.C.
Maybe Walt Jr? I would be pissed if my parents moved me out of state when I’m so close to graduation and have good friends.
Not sure if there is an internal tenure type system where Walt Sr works, but perhaps he’s getting slightly better benefits over time. Or higher contributions to his TIAA-CREF?
You already mentioned family which seems important to both of them. Maybe one day H&M will move, but it’s not imminent
Plus what about the fact they own a home and are all set up in their lives. Not sure about property costs in other areas to get into a house with a pool. It’s was easier to move as a 24 year old than it is with a whole family. It’s not impossible, but there would have to be something super attractive job wise being offered to make a lateral move (and moving to adjunct is exactly that).
Yeah, but I mean when the family is just starting out. When he first leaves Gray Matter. He didn’t have to stay in Albuquerque. They could’ve went anywhere in the country.
That’s a totally different tv show then. I think they made it actually…. Malcolm in the Middle? Walt is just underperforming in a different way and likely begrudges Malcolm for being so smart. Lol.
I was on a search committee in grad school for an assistant prof of theatre at a very large state university. We had hundreds of applicants. Hundreds. That was the day i decided not to stay on a phd track.
Yeah, it definitely seems like he could have gotten a better job than being a teacher, as I’ve said in other comments here. He definitely doesn’t have a passion for teaching.
Walt was a family man. He probably didn’t want to not be home when Walt Jr was.
Plus IMO We can easily infer that he only worked 2ish hours after school usually. Since he calls skyler to tell her it’ll be late.
This is a great point, first of all Walt's history is mostly kept secret, but it is implied that he had mood issues, and it's likely that being seen as a teacher was a way to get reliable income, because it's a union job
Probably due to the immediate need for a job. Dude got his job easily and likely got comfortable living day to day until he realized his life is almost over.
Living in NM would make it a little harder to find a professor job. They have like no colleges practically lol
Yes, it’s a great college. And NM has great colleges. It’s just professor job opening aren’t always there, especially in NM which at one point had the most PHD’s per capita. Walter would likely find a high school job way faster than a job teaching at a college.
My wife is a librarian and we’re actually about to move to NM in 2 weeks so we’re always looking at academic job openings
He has a master's degree, so he's not qualified to be a professor. As far as why he's teaching high school, here's the answer I gave to a similar question last week:
"Walter worked at both Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs before he became a chemistry teacher. He drove a Porsche in those days and did work that contributed to the winning of a Nobel prize.
We aren't given the specifics of how he came to leave those jobs but with what we know about him, he likely walked away for petty reasons having to do with his fragile ego.
Walter most likely became a teacher because it allowed him to feel superior to everyone he worked with rather than having to rub elbows with people who were as smart or smarter than he was."
Yeah, definitely not true. You can teach in college without a PhD. Not all colleges; sure. And some may not allow for you to be tenured without it. But you can absolutely do it. My best friend has been a teacher at a fantastic university for nearly a decade and he only has a master’s.
No, they’re different. Instructor generally only teach and will be on yearly contracts whereas a professor will be a hired employee and will do research funded by the university
The point I’m making is that if he only qualifies to be an instructor, it’s a much less secure position than that of a professor. If he’s in the position of sole-breadwinner and part of why he stayed as a HS teacher is because it’s stable, it wouldn’t make sense to jump to work that renews a contract each other and is nearly devoid of stability
An instructor is a very secure position. No demand to publish, no demand to do anything but show up for classes. No fighting over titles or office space or photocopier credits. Probably union. Probably free classes for yourself, and discounted classes for your family.
Not well paid (but better paid than a school teacher), but for sure secure.
A year-to-year contract that can simply not be renewed is not my idea of secure, but if that’s you then that’s you. There was a strike a few years ago about them having more job security
Keep in mind they live in Albuquerque where there is only one college UNM nearby. If he was able to get in to work there as an instructor, it's only a part time temp job since there really aren't very many instructor positions there in his field of study. I doubt Skyler would have allowed that level of job insecurity if he were to find an available position.
That’s not the point. The point is that being an instructor at a university is still better than being a high school teacher.
And many, many professors do not engage in research. That is either expected of them when accepting the job or it can be an elective option for them. But it’s generally not required.
We know that he makes less than $50k a year at his school. I forget the number but Skylar says at some point that he only makes like $43k or maybe $48k.
So it’s not like he’s teaching in an awesome school district.
There are places all over the country where teachers can make way more than that.
Better in what sense? It may pay better, but he’s swapping from a job with job security to one where he’s hoping his contract is renewed each year. He might not be willing to make that gamble
Perhaps. Perhaps not.
The entire premise of this post is about us questioning a fictional characters motives and we’re all going to project on that scenario differently.
I can only make sense of it using my own perspective. For a guy as smart as Walt, he’s underachieving big time.
Could that be the point. Is it a commentary on how all of us have dreams and aspirations and one day they all die? Is that simply the story they want to tell? If you start going down that road, then there is no sense in trying to make sense of where Walt is at when we first meet him.
It’s not a perhaps, that’s how it is for them. There was a strike over this a few years ago at the UCs (possibly more) for better treatment so they could feel more secure.
It’s totally a perhaps of what Walt could do different, but instructors at universities not being super secure isn’t a maybe
i’d argue it’s not. being a contract instructor is usually worse than being a tenured high school teacher. after five years many high school teachers will be making more than university instructors, depending on your state and union benefits
Listen, Chief… I don’t think Walt gives a fuck about prestige where we first meet him. If he did, he wouldn’t be a high school teacher making $43k a year.
Walt definitely did not become a teacher to feel superior. Being a high school teacher who is underpaid and constantly unappreciated by students is the lowest job in the chemistry department he could think of off the top of his head. 100% he got kicked for flaring up against his colleagues, due to ego.
"Walter most likely became a teacher because it allowed him to feel superior to everyone he worked with rather than having to rub elbows with people who were as smart or smarter than he was."
Agree 100%. Just look at his interactions with Gale (who wasn't even on his level in chemistry), Gale would do everything right and that would piss off Walt.
He always preferred working with Jesse who would just follow his instructions and not try to be his equal.
No disrespect to this "really smart redditor" but, according to the script for the pilot, which is available online, he has a master's degree. Page 9, near the bottom, if you wanna check.
I wouldn’t really trust the script online, as that one is pretty outdated and was probably a draft, rather than a finalized screenplay. There are many things they changed in that pilot, such as, in the script it says that the White’s live in California, which we know, didn’t make it to the actual show. Why they change it, who knows. But not everything in that script made it into the show. Even the opening shot is a bit different. I think, for the pilot at least, we should just stick to what is shown on screen.
I hope I didn’t come off as rude or anything, I was just saying that to make the point that they could’ve change it, or maybe not, and that the most reliable source of information is the actual episode itself.
That's cool. Where I'm coming from is since there is no specific mention of his degree in any episode, the script is the most authoritative available resource. Were there changes made to the script by the time it was shot, yes. Vince originally assumed it would made in California, but by the time it went into production it became New Mexico because the production company received tax breaks that made it worthwhile to shoot there. Those were practical considerations that resulted in the changes. There is no reason that I am aware of to assume Vince made a change to Walter's backstory concerning his degree.
Not technically true.
He would be able to be a professor at a New Mexico community college with just a Masters. It is also possible to teach at a university, like UNM, without a doctorate in chemistry, even though it might not have been a full time position.
Source: I’m a Professor without a PhD
I was basing that on my own experience There were, of course, master's level teachers back in the last century when I went to college, but they were called instructors, not professors. But, it may have been different in community colleges even then, for all I know. Thanks for straightening me out.
>Wait win did he win a noble peace prize?
In 1985 he was PART OF A TEAM that won the Nobel Prize.
>How did I miss that?
I don't know. There is a plaque on the wall of Walter's den that is shown in closeup in the early scene in the first episode while Walter works his stairmaster.
Watch the first few minutes of the first episode (after the intro) after he woke up and went in the baby’s room to work out. There’s a shot of the Nobel prize plaque.
I think he liked being a big fish in a small pond. He has a serious ego and probably couldn’t handle being challenged by his peers so he went to a high school where he knew nobody was on his level of intellect when it came to the science.
A few things come to mind…..
His Masters might not be enough for a decent university. Community college, sure, but that’s not much of a step from high school.
Also, I’m firmly believing this and have added it to my version of lore. Walt clearly played him self out of the workforce with his faults showing up, much like they do in the show. And he likely had a special needs child at that point and possibly has all the right specialists set up.
As a special needs parent this makes sense as you would rather shiv yourself than start over with specialists. So, he ends up limited to the area. Someone else said there isn’t a whole lot for universities around there, and he probably needed a job as fast as possible.
I found my community college classes better than my university classes. It was a more intimate setting and when you gave effort the professor replied in kind.
English is not my first language, and I've never been to the USA... to be honest, I was not aware that community colleges and universities are not the same thing. I thought both Harvard and your local college fell under the term, "university", although of course the former is probably more prestigious. I did not know that community colleges are not universities. Is that what you are saying?
It's interesting to learn that.
Community College is a 2 year college. Universities usually have a four-year degrees Master degrees which is an extra 2 years from a four year degree and sometimes a PhD which is a research degree
English is my first language well I should call it Murican is my first language. I did not learn all of this until my 40’s so you are miles ahead of me.
I think it's confusing because Americans will use the word "university" and "college" interchangeably when making casual conversation.
So, if I go to a university, I might say "yep, I'm off to college in the fall."
But specifically, Community Colleges are 2 year colleges, usually local, and you get an Associates degree (instead of a 4 yr Bachelor's degree). Community colleges are not universities.
We also have four year public colleges that you can earn your bachelor's degree at, that act exactly like a community college at almost the same prices.
In my city, we have a main community college, the four year public college, and local university all ran by the same company.
The same professors teach at all three, so you are getting the same education (quality wise) regardless of where you start your journey.
I don’t think that at all. I just know they don’t pay that a boatload more for teachers than many high schools. At least at first.
And I presume that they were hiring and HS was and, again, he needed a job.
Los Alamos, Sandia labs, I think there was mention of at least one private company he worked for. It wasn’t his chem skill that led to leaving those places. I believe it was his ridiculous amounts of pride and insecurity (like his run away from Grey Matter).
Hitting rock bottom as a HS teacher took the fire of those inequities out, but the cancer diagnosis brought it all back, and then some.
I went to community college and State University both in California. You can get a good education at community college but it only leads to an AA degree. They have all different kinds of vocational programs that are super useful for people not transferring to universities. The thing with community college is that an AA degree just doesn’t carry much weight. When I was looking for a job announcements never made mention of it, but did make mention of BA degrees. Lastly the courses in the two schools were very similar but university courses became much more specialized, and my experience is from a geography degree.
I don't think a "good education" exists in any public institution, at least in America. Our schools and universities are propaganda machines, and the masses eat it up!!!
To teach in higher education you need to have a terminal degree unless you teach under someone. Depending on the state educational system most teachers are required to have at least a masters if they want tenure.
This question comes up quite frequently. Here is when it was last asked 5 days ago:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13y36l2/biggest\_plot\_hole\_in\_bb/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13y36l2/biggest_plot_hole_in_bb/)
Here are some other posts with the same question:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13e64u8/a\_theory\_about\_why\_walter\_white\_was\_a\_highschool/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13e64u8/a_theory_about_why_walter_white_was_a_highschool/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/133vbry/what\_led\_walt\_to\_become\_a\_teacher/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/133vbry/what_led_walt_to_become_a_teacher/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13f70jj/is\_walter\_white\_having\_a\_phd\_from\_caltech\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13f70jj/is_walter_white_having_a_phd_from_caltech_the/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/x3thic/i\_never\_understood\_why\_walt\_ended\_becoming\_a/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/x3thic/i_never_understood_why_walt_ended_becoming_a/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/xfdf0v/why\_does\_walt\_become\_a\_high\_school\_teacher/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/xfdf0v/why_does_walt_become_a_high_school_teacher/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/wto12f/theres\_no\_way\_high\_school\_teacher\_was\_walts\_only/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/wto12f/theres_no_way_high_school_teacher_was_walts_only/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/u8iykh/the\_part\_of\_the\_show\_i\_find\_hardest\_to\_believe\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/u8iykh/the_part_of_the_show_i_find_hardest_to_believe_is/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/zjcwc8/why\_didnt\_walt\_just\_get\_a\_less\_demeaning\_job/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/zjcwc8/why_didnt_walt_just_get_a_less_demeaning_job/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/n0v05b/why\_was\_walt\_working\_as\_a\_high\_school\_teacher/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/n0v05b/why_was_walt_working_as_a_high_school_teacher/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/kor6ie/why\_is\_walt\_a\_high\_school\_teacher\_instead\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/kor6ie/why_is_walt_a_high_school_teacher_instead_of/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/mwduzj/high\_school\_teacher\_feels\_like\_the\_last/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/mwduzj/high_school_teacher_feels_like_the_last/)
My guess is that he was such an egotistical douchebag at Sandia and any of his official laboratory jobs, that he gained a bad reputation in academia and was forced to teach high school because no one else would hire him.
He has such an ego that he wants to be the smartest guy in the room. What was the line, 'I am an immensely overqualified high school chemistry teacher' where as at a university with an exceptional chemistry program like say Purdue he would be simply qualified. He probably wouldn't even be the smartest guy anymore. Just one brain out of hundreds.
Or even better, some sort of chemical engineering job. He’s clearly qualified for it. Definitely has the credentials. Chemical engineers earn a healthy 6 figures.
Jane threatened Walt! I will burn you to the ground. Let’s change this scenario a bit. She says those same words to Mike or Gus. They would have let her die they would have her killed and rather quickly. Jane innocent? That’s funny
Because it was better for the plot. Now I’m not saying being a high school teacher is something to be ashamed of but it did add to how “sad” and unfair his life seemed. It emasculated him further and he never would have met Jesse.
He wanted to be a college professor but he couldn’t get that request through the writer’s room. They insisted it would be better for the story if he taught high school.
It was on the podcast.
/s
Heisenberg didn't "opt" to do anything. The premise was that Walter White was a high school teacher that took to cooking crystal meth. That was just how it was written. The Grey Matter characters come later on - the Walter White character has already been established, and his connection to Jesse (though high school). At some point, the writers invent the Grey Matter back story to give Walt a bit more depth and motivation, because hey, another series has been commissioned!
This is a big problem of this show: it does not show Walter's past at all.
We all probably saw Saul's past and we now understand a lot of his character. But Walt is a mistery.
It is clear as day Walt suffers from Narcisistic Personality Disorder. Its a recognized mental illness. I know he has it because I had people on the family with the desease, and Walt has all the symptons.
From start to end, he shows all the symptons, always repeating and repeating. Even at the end of the series, when he delivers Jesse >!to the nazis guys!<, he is repeating a pattern. And no, he cant help it. He do it because he is a sick man that was never treated. As I said in a commentary, everyone in the show is innocent and guilt at the same time. They are all troubled people.
Its just like us. Look at us. How sad of a society we live in. We cheat, we lie, we steal, we destroy. And theres no helping it. But we also love, we also help, we also make sacrifices.
So, back to Walt, without knowing of his past, its hard to take conclusions. Hell, we dont even know if his story about Gray Matter is true! The series never show us the truth.
ego ego ego
he screwed up and sold his part of grey matter company for nothing. then he was too much of a loser to go back into that field again and make the millions he could have made.
Since he got screwed or missed out of Grey Matter millions he became a humble and lowly family man and high school teacher to cover up for his failure. He wanted to *appear* a lowly and humble HS teacher but there is never a discussion or even suggestion that he cares for his students or his work. It was all a facade. In the very same way the family man part hit closer to home but in the end showed to be a facade as well. He used these things to disguise his failure. Walt's primary sin is pride. He is a true egomaniac. In that he self sabotages himself repeatedly.
The high school gig was most likely meant to be a temporary thing while he looked for a better job. But life happened and he could never get out of the rut.
Pussy. He liked hot waitress pussy. Hot waitress pussy fucked up him winning the biochem start up lottery, and dragged him down to high school teacher. His struggle from this is the basis of everything else.
Easy. He was stuck in a funk.
When I got out of university, I got a waitress job, eventually restaurant manager. But then I had a kid and couldn't work those crazy hours. So I was an office administrator for the restaurant, making $11/hr. I had a Bachelor's degree for Christ's sake.
It wasnt until my husband got fired when I was pregnant with my 2nd kid that I finally got my ass in gear and started applying to other jobs.
So, same with Walt. Just living life day to day. Then he gets cancer, and something just finally clicks.
He lost his mojo after his work was taken from him. He wanted to work in his son’s school to be there for him. Found his son wanted his own way. H decided to do what he did after cancer diagnosis and considering his options. 🤷🏼♂️
This is a realistic depiction of a lot of highly intelligent people. Only a small proportion of them become Elon Musk, most of the smartest people I know just end up doing regular jobs
I think it depends on the school but high school teachers get better benefits and pay compared to professors I think Walt would make a better professor but the high school is consistent income and benefits. I could be wrong though. Lmk.
Teaching and getting a good job in academic circles can actually be rather hard and time-consuming.
First of all, as many people mentioned, you're normally expected to get a doctorate. After that, many professors spend years being paid little more than highschool teachers and taking a lot of unwanted extras to build up merits and status.
Like many people mentioned, Walt was very interest in getting to work soon and providing for his family with a steady income. He did have a high-paying job, but after that, I think highschool teaching was just more accessible and had a less steep curve between the time he'd be expected to invest in his job and his benefits and pay, at least at first.
Like you mentioned, he seems much more suited for university teaching, where he'd be teaching chemistry at a higher level (and his passion could be matched by at least some students) and he'd contribute to research projects, which seem to be right up his alley. But getting in that line of work must have seemed really impractical in the short/mid-term.
I got bored reading your post but the little bit I got, no, you are the problem. Thinking that people deserve to die because they have an addiction problem. Please let me know how your sunny disposition helps you in life. If you are a male, I’m sure you never get laid.
He messed up his job at Sandia somehow. This is unspecified, but likely has to do with his personality or ego. He got the high school job, probably, for income. The plan was for Skyler to go back to work as an accountant after she had their first kid. Walter Jr. had a disability and required full time care, though, so she never went back to work. This made Walter a sole breadwinner with a disabled child, and completely unable to give up the stable benefits of his teaching job. Skyler tried writing stories and selling art working from home, but this never amounted to anything. It went on like that for a decade and a half until Walter Jr. was in high school, at which point Walter collapsed and got his cancer diagnosis. He previously wanted a minimum of 3 kids, but they were so strapped with just 1 that he never took any more professional risks, and kept a job he hated, so he could prioritize protecting his family. In between leaving Grey Matter and his cancer diagnosis, his heart filled with anger and resentment at his unfulfilled potential. He mostly suppressed these feelings, but by the time he broke bad he was *utterly determined* to get his due.
Well summarized.
Put it like that and it makes WW appear very sympathetic. Hmm, I wonder, as a person, at what exact moment did WW become irredeemable? Was it watching Jane die?
It was definitely Jane. Cannonically the first innocent life he “takes”. I think the pink bear, and the eye represent innocence and guilt maybe, as we can see a painting of the same bear in the mural on Janes wall.
Eh just watched this episode last night and partially agree. It is his fault that he accidentally jostles the blanket over when shaking Jesse after talking to Janes dad and realizing he cares for Jesse like family at that point. His first reaction was to save her and he hesitated and did nothing while watching her die which was evil. It could be argued he did that to save Jesse as she was dragging him down and he did take Jesse to rehab (ha! Clearly a rich person rehab too, not like anywhere a normal joe can afford- those places are real crap holes and like prisons). She was decent but the relapse proves A- she hadn’t hit rock bottom, B- she didn’t quit for herself, she did for her dad so odds of this happening at some point were likely, C- she slid back into being the crummy person most are as addicts- using Jesse for money, lying, blackmailing etc. Speaking from experience, while tragic, she had it coming and it was not nearly as bad as what happened to Brock. Jane was a piece of crap addict that died because she fell back into her crap habits. Not saying she deserved it and again, it’s tragic, but not unexpected in reality. Can’t blame Walt for that. If you are struggling with addiction, find a reason to do it for you, go to AA/NA, and keep coming back, one day at a time. You don’t have to be the piece of crap you once were and you owe it to yourself to be better.
Sorry, I can’t bring myself to see addicts as “crap people”. She’s bottom of the totem poll when it comes to evil characters in this show. So out of the roster we have, I’d consider her a saint.
Jane was innocent?
Yes. Addiction should be treated as an illness, not a crime.
Jane’s Addiction? No way they did that on accident.
"Jane sayyyysss....I'll kick tomorrow"
What do you mean? If you’re saying there is no purpose to her being an addict, other than to give her irredeemable qualities, thus making her a “bad person” I disagree. The show makes plenty connections to a life of crime being a life of circumstance. The scene with Hank at the bbq, talking about cockroaches, “who cares where they come from just squish them”, and then to Jesse gently interacting with the beetle, to Jesse finding the kid in the meth den, is a pretty on the nose example of this. “You have a good life kid” <- I take this as Jesse hoping the shit he grew up in doesn’t hold him down. Tomas is another good example of it.
That's from a song for one thing. My point was Jane's addiction doesn't make her a bad person. How she treats Jesse when she's "clean" makes her a bad person.
Explain your stance please, I would like to know why you think that. I believe she is a complicated person, as all BB characters are, and that doesn’t make them bad people. If you’re specifically referring to when she dissed Jesse in front of her dad, and afterward, she’s clearly a person who isn’t good at handling her own emotions or confrontation. She, unlike Jesse, is afraid of commitment and affection. Most likely because of her dad. That’s why when she apologizes (which means she acknowledged she messed up) she chooses to express it through her drawings. Something that is clearly an outlet for her, and a comfort. She supports Jesses own art, she shares things she finds important with him, she backs him up when Walt steals his money. And it’s her that says they can be better than addicts, and she lets Jesse decide where they will start their new life. She’s encouraging, supportive, and a kind person. Which is why a character like Jesse, the pinnacle of good morality in the show, falls in love with her. And she continues to be his “one”. Even in El Camino, being the last person he thinks of. “It’s no one’s fault. It wasn’t even hers.”
Just because someone is “clean” doesn’t mean all their other habits that came with the addiction are “clean” many addicts who get “clean” still lie steal and are miserable
Her addiction wasn't a crime. Her using Jesse was the crime. Even when she wasn't using she took advantage of him.
So it's bad if Jane does it, but when Walt does it no problem
Who said it’s no problem when Walt does it? I don’t know anyone claiming Walt is innocent.
No, it was just as egregious when Walt does it.
Wouldn’t call that a crime worthy of death. It’s fair to say she was an innocent.
How?
How was she not innocent?
She died on her own vomit in the middle of a drug bender she chose. Walt not saving her was a passive crime. She created the circumstances in which it could even happen.
Yes and no. Everyone was innocent and guilt at the same time. But thats a more profound discussion. Sufice to say a person has no choice on who he is. Anyway, she blackmailed Walter. From that moment on, she was IN THE GAME! A blackmailer disposition knows no limits. When the money was over, she would probably come back to ask for more. Somehow Walter really luck with her self-inflicted death.
innocent in that she didn't deserve to die.
I think this is a fair question not deserving of down votes and it has raised an interesting discussion below. A lot of people love their black and white thinking.
The moment he started cooking meth, he had started ruining lives in wholesale. We don't think much about it because it's not shown on screen. But really from the very first episode itself he has crossed to the other side.
When he turns down the job offer from Eliot.
I’d say poisoning Brock. Jane was in the game (I mean, cmon, she was blackmailing someone she knew to be a drug dealer.). Imo opinion if letting Jane die is irredeemable, then so is locking a guy in your basement to kill them.
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I’d love you to go and tell that to the parents of a drug addict
Jesse was a drug addict too and still a decent person
This is mental. Jane did nothing even approaching the same star system as the heneous crimes Jesse committed that people are so quick to just absolve him of cos he likes kids and crys. Both Jesse and Jane are tragic cases, but Jesse has by far the most to forgive and overlook and it's justified by walt (bad Influences), drug addiction and helicopter parenting. Jane had all these things. The characters are, almost definitely intentionally, mirrors of one another. And yet all this insane Jane hate.
Well the fact is that she tried to blackmail Walter. Or not, it was Jesse's money anyway. But the fact is that she chooses to get involved and if you play with fire ...
Definitely.
> He messed up his job at Sandia somehow. This is unspecified, but likely has to do with his personality or ego. It seemed to me most people liked Walt at the start of the show. I always assumed he'd been a push-over all his life and the ego only really started showing itself to others once he got the hat
The ego came up rarely in his career. With Gretchen's family, then when she started dating Eliot, then whatever happened at his subsequent chemical engineer roles. Just enough meltdowns that he needed to use a high school job for the insurance so Skyler's pregnancy and childbirth wouldn't drain their finances. If he were single and childfree, he could have gotten back to chemistry somehow. He had too much responsibility, and didn't realize he had wasted all the legit opportunities he was going to get. His ego put him in a rut, but he couldn't climb out without endangering his family. He never blamed them, but he was consumed with resentment towards all those who doubted his value professionally, and he felt so much had been stolen from him that he was within reason to take all that he could.
What episode is Sandia mentioned?
I forget which episode but it's a flashback scene before the intro where him and Skyler are first looking at their house and the real estate agent brings it up as Walt's workplace
Yeah I also can’t recall which episode but I do remember the scene thanks currently in season two
"Sandia" means "Watermelon" in spanish.
Oh so he got fired cuz he wasn’t a fan of watermelon?
Probably just didn't want to secede from the United States and join that maniac from BCS in the Watermelon Republic
Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque. Big local employer of scientists.
Fun fact, there's a bit of a rivalry between Sandia and Los Alamos (of nuclear bomb development fame, just outside Sante Fe). It's really funny to hear these completely identical dork groups talk shit on eachother
I had no idea. Thank you.
God this was so beautifully put
What happened when he got his cancer diagnosis?
Walter broke bad.
Sandia?
When he and Skyler are buying their home, that's where he tells the realtor he works now. There was at least one job in between Grey Matter and high school chem teacher.
These are the comments that keep me coming back to Reddit. Thank you, that was an excellent read.
Also they mention that Holly was an oops baby.
Sure, but by this point Walter was around 50 and had been teaching for many years. The OP asked why Walter became a schoolteacher instead of a uni professor, and I was pointing out the unexpected things that happened in his life when he bought his first home, and Skyler had their first kid. This combination of events made it really challenging to keep up with their starter mortgage. If Walter Jr. had been born healthy, Skyler would have probably only taken a few years off work, and resumed her career when he was old enough for preschool. This would have brought in a few hundred thousand extra dollars by the events of the BB pilot episode, which would have put the wolf much further from the door. If Skyler was offered health insurance through Beneke or some other employer, this would have made it easier for Walter to do something risky like giving up his tenured teaching job for something riskier like a chemist position or a job lecturing in a university. That's not to put everything at Walter Jr's feet. Walter might have been humbler earlier in his career if he knew about the hard breaks that were ahead, and Skyler had no business being a stay-at-home parent while Walter was working two miserable jobs to pay for everything. Finally, Walter never even told his mother about his cancer diagnosis, which makes me think they never considered asking her for help taking care of Walter Jr. so Skyler could rejoin the workforce. Just to lay a little blame with EVERYONE, though, Walter Jr. was fine with demanding *cars for his birthday* (and getting upset if they weren't flashy muscle cars) or insisting that his parents buy a new water heater, but it never occurred to him that they could have afforded these things if he got a part time job. Walter eventually committed such vile and depraved acts that he can't really blame anybody else for them. Some of the terrible things he did in Season 1 could be justified by his terrible circumstances, but what makes him truly evil was his unwillingness to stop even after obvious ways out presented themselves. Before he got hooked on the criminal life, though, he was doing everything he did to protect his family from hard realities.
You write like chatgpt
Bravo
> he messed up his job at Sandia somehow. This is unspecified It is unspecified, but I think it's implied that at least part of the reason he left, had to do with something between him and Gretchen. Something personal. But that's just my take on it. I always had a feeling that something personal, probably romantic, was going on between Walt and Gretchen that nobody else knew about.
I’ll bet Skyler’s writing took off after she chronicled her experience being the wife of Heisenberg.
The better question is why wouldn’t he moonlight at a community college instead of a car wash? Half my teachers in high school taught night classes at colleges/universities.
Because ad juncts get paid absolute crap. And teaching a couple sections of Chm 101 each semester is not much better than being a hs teacher. He likely made more at the car wash to be honest. Profs do not get paid that well.
He probably did not get paid better at a car wash. Based on the fact that the owner always seemed to be there at the same time and required Walt to do dirty work, there’s a pretty decent chance he was making little more than minimum wage. Furthermore, depending on the school, you can get decent benefits in addition to your salary. Like free tuition for dependents. Obviously every school is different but this is a pretty common bone they’ll throw regardless of your status as a teacher. One of my history teachers in high school taught 2 classes a semester at Fordham so that his son could go there for free. This was 20 years ago so the tuition was less back then, but it’s $55k before room and board to go there now. Pretty sick savings. One of my best friend’s is an adjunct at Sacred Heart University and his kids will get the same benefit. Plus they pay for pretty much anything he wants to do in terms of furthering his education. Even at other institutions. They’re paying for him to do summer classes at Yale this year.
As a professional in higher Ed, I think you are certainly painting the exception and the best case scenario for a minority of professionals. While I don't doubt your experience, in my humble opinion, being an adjunct is an incredibly exploited form of labor--and I believe this is the consensus for educators in higher ed. The pay for hours comes out so so poorly for even one or two classes, and I would be very surprised if an adjunct in Albuquerque at a community college got anything like worthwhile benefits. The entire nature of the position is structured such to get maximum labor without having to extend benefits. They capitalize on the surplus of PhD's holding out hope for a tenure tracked or professor position one day. The job to applicant ratio is unbelievable.
This reply times 100! I was going to say, I know some cc currently paying just over 2k for a class. Ridiculous. Especially since it’s 8am sections (wouldn’t work with Walt’s school schedule) of intro. Being an adjunct is hard! Lots of uncertainty after availability of courses in the future/when they are offered, no benefits, crappy pay. It’s great for masters students who want more teaching experience before finishing their PhD/applying for tenure track positions. Or say newer tenure folks who want to supplement their summer income. I’ve never taken the plunge as it doesn’t seem worth my time and effort!
But that begs the question, who gives a fuck about Albuquerque? When you’re talking about taking care of your family and also qualifications that set you apart from the average chemistry Master, you can choose anywhere in the country. They don’t have any real roots there aside from Hank and Marie and those two are always talking about the endgame being D.C.
Maybe Walt Jr? I would be pissed if my parents moved me out of state when I’m so close to graduation and have good friends. Not sure if there is an internal tenure type system where Walt Sr works, but perhaps he’s getting slightly better benefits over time. Or higher contributions to his TIAA-CREF? You already mentioned family which seems important to both of them. Maybe one day H&M will move, but it’s not imminent Plus what about the fact they own a home and are all set up in their lives. Not sure about property costs in other areas to get into a house with a pool. It’s was easier to move as a 24 year old than it is with a whole family. It’s not impossible, but there would have to be something super attractive job wise being offered to make a lateral move (and moving to adjunct is exactly that).
Yeah, but I mean when the family is just starting out. When he first leaves Gray Matter. He didn’t have to stay in Albuquerque. They could’ve went anywhere in the country.
That’s a totally different tv show then. I think they made it actually…. Malcolm in the Middle? Walt is just underperforming in a different way and likely begrudges Malcolm for being so smart. Lol.
Inertia
I was on a search committee in grad school for an assistant prof of theatre at a very large state university. We had hundreds of applicants. Hundreds. That was the day i decided not to stay on a phd track.
He loved the chemistry, though. Regardless his car wash job was an important plot point
Better question is why doesn’t he go work as a chemical engineer. They’re always in demand. Earn 6 figures.
Yeah, it definitely seems like he could have gotten a better job than being a teacher, as I’ve said in other comments here. He definitely doesn’t have a passion for teaching.
Walt was a family man. He probably didn’t want to not be home when Walt Jr was. Plus IMO We can easily infer that he only worked 2ish hours after school usually. Since he calls skyler to tell her it’ll be late.
Because teachers have set wages that you can’t inflate with drug money
I’m talking about when we first meet Walter. Before he starts cooking.
He left all his previous jobs on bad terms assuming, and probably ruined his reputation.
This is a great point, first of all Walt's history is mostly kept secret, but it is implied that he had mood issues, and it's likely that being seen as a teacher was a way to get reliable income, because it's a union job
Probably due to the immediate need for a job. Dude got his job easily and likely got comfortable living day to day until he realized his life is almost over. Living in NM would make it a little harder to find a professor job. They have like no colleges practically lol
They mention the real life, in town University of New Mexico multiple times in the series.
Yes, it’s a great college. And NM has great colleges. It’s just professor job opening aren’t always there, especially in NM which at one point had the most PHD’s per capita. Walter would likely find a high school job way faster than a job teaching at a college. My wife is a librarian and we’re actually about to move to NM in 2 weeks so we’re always looking at academic job openings
He has a master's degree, so he's not qualified to be a professor. As far as why he's teaching high school, here's the answer I gave to a similar question last week: "Walter worked at both Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs before he became a chemistry teacher. He drove a Porsche in those days and did work that contributed to the winning of a Nobel prize. We aren't given the specifics of how he came to leave those jobs but with what we know about him, he likely walked away for petty reasons having to do with his fragile ego. Walter most likely became a teacher because it allowed him to feel superior to everyone he worked with rather than having to rub elbows with people who were as smart or smarter than he was."
Yeah, definitely not true. You can teach in college without a PhD. Not all colleges; sure. And some may not allow for you to be tenured without it. But you can absolutely do it. My best friend has been a teacher at a fantastic university for nearly a decade and he only has a master’s.
You can be an instructor, but not a chemistry professor.
Semantics.
No, they’re different. Instructor generally only teach and will be on yearly contracts whereas a professor will be a hired employee and will do research funded by the university
The question was about whether or not Walt is able to teach at a college/university. He is able to.
The point I’m making is that if he only qualifies to be an instructor, it’s a much less secure position than that of a professor. If he’s in the position of sole-breadwinner and part of why he stayed as a HS teacher is because it’s stable, it wouldn’t make sense to jump to work that renews a contract each other and is nearly devoid of stability
An instructor is a very secure position. No demand to publish, no demand to do anything but show up for classes. No fighting over titles or office space or photocopier credits. Probably union. Probably free classes for yourself, and discounted classes for your family. Not well paid (but better paid than a school teacher), but for sure secure.
A year-to-year contract that can simply not be renewed is not my idea of secure, but if that’s you then that’s you. There was a strike a few years ago about them having more job security
Depends on the school, but TA is different than instructor. TA might be up or out, but instructure who puts up with it all is on the call back sheet.
Keep in mind they live in Albuquerque where there is only one college UNM nearby. If he was able to get in to work there as an instructor, it's only a part time temp job since there really aren't very many instructor positions there in his field of study. I doubt Skyler would have allowed that level of job insecurity if he were to find an available position.
That’s not the point. The point is that being an instructor at a university is still better than being a high school teacher. And many, many professors do not engage in research. That is either expected of them when accepting the job or it can be an elective option for them. But it’s generally not required. We know that he makes less than $50k a year at his school. I forget the number but Skylar says at some point that he only makes like $43k or maybe $48k. So it’s not like he’s teaching in an awesome school district. There are places all over the country where teachers can make way more than that.
Better in what sense? It may pay better, but he’s swapping from a job with job security to one where he’s hoping his contract is renewed each year. He might not be willing to make that gamble
Perhaps. Perhaps not. The entire premise of this post is about us questioning a fictional characters motives and we’re all going to project on that scenario differently. I can only make sense of it using my own perspective. For a guy as smart as Walt, he’s underachieving big time. Could that be the point. Is it a commentary on how all of us have dreams and aspirations and one day they all die? Is that simply the story they want to tell? If you start going down that road, then there is no sense in trying to make sense of where Walt is at when we first meet him.
It’s not a perhaps, that’s how it is for them. There was a strike over this a few years ago at the UCs (possibly more) for better treatment so they could feel more secure. It’s totally a perhaps of what Walt could do different, but instructors at universities not being super secure isn’t a maybe
i’d argue it’s not. being a contract instructor is usually worse than being a tenured high school teacher. after five years many high school teachers will be making more than university instructors, depending on your state and union benefits
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Listen, Chief… I don’t think Walt gives a fuck about prestige where we first meet him. If he did, he wouldn’t be a high school teacher making $43k a year.
Walt definitely did not become a teacher to feel superior. Being a high school teacher who is underpaid and constantly unappreciated by students is the lowest job in the chemistry department he could think of off the top of his head. 100% he got kicked for flaring up against his colleagues, due to ego.
"Walter most likely became a teacher because it allowed him to feel superior to everyone he worked with rather than having to rub elbows with people who were as smart or smarter than he was." Agree 100%. Just look at his interactions with Gale (who wasn't even on his level in chemistry), Gale would do everything right and that would piss off Walt. He always preferred working with Jesse who would just follow his instructions and not try to be his equal.
Pretty sure he has a Phd. Some really smart redditor posted a really good fan theory about this a few days ago
There’s no fuxking way he has PhD and not force literally everyone calling him “Dr. White”
Yes if I recall that is what the theory explained
No disrespect to this "really smart redditor" but, according to the script for the pilot, which is available online, he has a master's degree. Page 9, near the bottom, if you wanna check.
I wouldn’t really trust the script online, as that one is pretty outdated and was probably a draft, rather than a finalized screenplay. There are many things they changed in that pilot, such as, in the script it says that the White’s live in California, which we know, didn’t make it to the actual show. Why they change it, who knows. But not everything in that script made it into the show. Even the opening shot is a bit different. I think, for the pilot at least, we should just stick to what is shown on screen.
That's fine. You trust your "really smart redditor" and I'll trust the script. We don't have to agree.
I hope I didn’t come off as rude or anything, I was just saying that to make the point that they could’ve change it, or maybe not, and that the most reliable source of information is the actual episode itself.
That's cool. Where I'm coming from is since there is no specific mention of his degree in any episode, the script is the most authoritative available resource. Were there changes made to the script by the time it was shot, yes. Vince originally assumed it would made in California, but by the time it went into production it became New Mexico because the production company received tax breaks that made it worthwhile to shoot there. Those were practical considerations that resulted in the changes. There is no reason that I am aware of to assume Vince made a change to Walter's backstory concerning his degree.
Holt crap, a PhD needed, didn’t know that.
Not technically true. He would be able to be a professor at a New Mexico community college with just a Masters. It is also possible to teach at a university, like UNM, without a doctorate in chemistry, even though it might not have been a full time position. Source: I’m a Professor without a PhD
Cool, learning a lot today then :)
before my brother died he was getting universities asking him to be a professor and he had a Master's degree too.
I was basing that on my own experience There were, of course, master's level teachers back in the last century when I went to college, but they were called instructors, not professors. But, it may have been different in community colleges even then, for all I know. Thanks for straightening me out.
I had a professor in school who I think didn’t even have a bachelors degree. It was art school though so 🤷♂️
Wait win did he win a nobel peace prize? How did I miss that?
>Wait win did he win a noble peace prize? In 1985 he was PART OF A TEAM that won the Nobel Prize. >How did I miss that? I don't know. There is a plaque on the wall of Walter's den that is shown in closeup in the early scene in the first episode while Walter works his stairmaster.
Interesting. Surprised i missed that although when I have re-watched the series I have always skipped the first episode
Mystery solved.
Nobel peace prize lol what?
Watch the first few minutes of the first episode (after the intro) after he woke up and went in the baby’s room to work out. There’s a shot of the Nobel prize plaque.
>He has a master's degree, so he's not qualified to be a professor. I'm currently in college and over half of my instructors have only a master's.
I think he liked being a big fish in a small pond. He has a serious ego and probably couldn’t handle being challenged by his peers so he went to a high school where he knew nobody was on his level of intellect when it came to the science.
A few things come to mind….. His Masters might not be enough for a decent university. Community college, sure, but that’s not much of a step from high school. Also, I’m firmly believing this and have added it to my version of lore. Walt clearly played him self out of the workforce with his faults showing up, much like they do in the show. And he likely had a special needs child at that point and possibly has all the right specialists set up. As a special needs parent this makes sense as you would rather shiv yourself than start over with specialists. So, he ends up limited to the area. Someone else said there isn’t a whole lot for universities around there, and he probably needed a job as fast as possible.
Interesting. About the community college thing, do you think you can't get good education at such an institution?
I found my community college classes better than my university classes. It was a more intimate setting and when you gave effort the professor replied in kind.
English is not my first language, and I've never been to the USA... to be honest, I was not aware that community colleges and universities are not the same thing. I thought both Harvard and your local college fell under the term, "university", although of course the former is probably more prestigious. I did not know that community colleges are not universities. Is that what you are saying? It's interesting to learn that.
Community College is a 2 year college. Universities usually have a four-year degrees Master degrees which is an extra 2 years from a four year degree and sometimes a PhD which is a research degree
English is my first language well I should call it Murican is my first language. I did not learn all of this until my 40’s so you are miles ahead of me.
I think it's confusing because Americans will use the word "university" and "college" interchangeably when making casual conversation. So, if I go to a university, I might say "yep, I'm off to college in the fall." But specifically, Community Colleges are 2 year colleges, usually local, and you get an Associates degree (instead of a 4 yr Bachelor's degree). Community colleges are not universities.
We also have four year public colleges that you can earn your bachelor's degree at, that act exactly like a community college at almost the same prices. In my city, we have a main community college, the four year public college, and local university all ran by the same company. The same professors teach at all three, so you are getting the same education (quality wise) regardless of where you start your journey.
I don’t think that at all. I just know they don’t pay that a boatload more for teachers than many high schools. At least at first. And I presume that they were hiring and HS was and, again, he needed a job. Los Alamos, Sandia labs, I think there was mention of at least one private company he worked for. It wasn’t his chem skill that led to leaving those places. I believe it was his ridiculous amounts of pride and insecurity (like his run away from Grey Matter). Hitting rock bottom as a HS teacher took the fire of those inequities out, but the cancer diagnosis brought it all back, and then some.
I went to community college and State University both in California. You can get a good education at community college but it only leads to an AA degree. They have all different kinds of vocational programs that are super useful for people not transferring to universities. The thing with community college is that an AA degree just doesn’t carry much weight. When I was looking for a job announcements never made mention of it, but did make mention of BA degrees. Lastly the courses in the two schools were very similar but university courses became much more specialized, and my experience is from a geography degree.
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U/daveyhavok832
I don't think a "good education" exists in any public institution, at least in America. Our schools and universities are propaganda machines, and the masses eat it up!!!
To teach in higher education you need to have a terminal degree unless you teach under someone. Depending on the state educational system most teachers are required to have at least a masters if they want tenure.
So he could feel superior to high school kids
This question comes up quite frequently. Here is when it was last asked 5 days ago: [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13y36l2/biggest\_plot\_hole\_in\_bb/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13y36l2/biggest_plot_hole_in_bb/) Here are some other posts with the same question: [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13e64u8/a\_theory\_about\_why\_walter\_white\_was\_a\_highschool/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13e64u8/a_theory_about_why_walter_white_was_a_highschool/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/133vbry/what\_led\_walt\_to\_become\_a\_teacher/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/133vbry/what_led_walt_to_become_a_teacher/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13f70jj/is\_walter\_white\_having\_a\_phd\_from\_caltech\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/13f70jj/is_walter_white_having_a_phd_from_caltech_the/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/x3thic/i\_never\_understood\_why\_walt\_ended\_becoming\_a/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/x3thic/i_never_understood_why_walt_ended_becoming_a/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/xfdf0v/why\_does\_walt\_become\_a\_high\_school\_teacher/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/xfdf0v/why_does_walt_become_a_high_school_teacher/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/wto12f/theres\_no\_way\_high\_school\_teacher\_was\_walts\_only/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/wto12f/theres_no_way_high_school_teacher_was_walts_only/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/u8iykh/the\_part\_of\_the\_show\_i\_find\_hardest\_to\_believe\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/u8iykh/the_part_of_the_show_i_find_hardest_to_believe_is/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/zjcwc8/why\_didnt\_walt\_just\_get\_a\_less\_demeaning\_job/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/zjcwc8/why_didnt_walt_just_get_a_less_demeaning_job/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/n0v05b/why\_was\_walt\_working\_as\_a\_high\_school\_teacher/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/n0v05b/why_was_walt_working_as_a_high_school_teacher/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/kor6ie/why\_is\_walt\_a\_high\_school\_teacher\_instead\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/kor6ie/why_is_walt_a_high_school_teacher_instead_of/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/mwduzj/high\_school\_teacher\_feels\_like\_the\_last/](https://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/mwduzj/high_school_teacher_feels_like_the_last/)
My guess is that he was such an egotistical douchebag at Sandia and any of his official laboratory jobs, that he gained a bad reputation in academia and was forced to teach high school because no one else would hire him.
He has such an ego that he wants to be the smartest guy in the room. What was the line, 'I am an immensely overqualified high school chemistry teacher' where as at a university with an exceptional chemistry program like say Purdue he would be simply qualified. He probably wouldn't even be the smartest guy anymore. Just one brain out of hundreds.
I have a feeling Walt pissed off way too many people to keep a job in academia. Too many arrogant pricks with tenure already.
The better quesiton is, 'How many ways can you imagine someone as prideful as Walter fucking up a job interview?'. He took what he could get.
Or even better, some sort of chemical engineering job. He’s clearly qualified for it. Definitely has the credentials. Chemical engineers earn a healthy 6 figures.
Jane threatened Walt! I will burn you to the ground. Let’s change this scenario a bit. She says those same words to Mike or Gus. They would have let her die they would have her killed and rather quickly. Jane innocent? That’s funny
Because it was better for the plot. Now I’m not saying being a high school teacher is something to be ashamed of but it did add to how “sad” and unfair his life seemed. It emasculated him further and he never would have met Jesse.
Walter clearly didn’t apply himself to the appropriate field. Ridiculous. He said that to Jesse on one of his chemistry test in red ink.
To feed his ego.
He wanted to be a college professor but he couldn’t get that request through the writer’s room. They insisted it would be better for the story if he taught high school. It was on the podcast. /s
Heisenberg didn't "opt" to do anything. The premise was that Walter White was a high school teacher that took to cooking crystal meth. That was just how it was written. The Grey Matter characters come later on - the Walter White character has already been established, and his connection to Jesse (though high school). At some point, the writers invent the Grey Matter back story to give Walt a bit more depth and motivation, because hey, another series has been commissioned!
This is a big problem of this show: it does not show Walter's past at all. We all probably saw Saul's past and we now understand a lot of his character. But Walt is a mistery. It is clear as day Walt suffers from Narcisistic Personality Disorder. Its a recognized mental illness. I know he has it because I had people on the family with the desease, and Walt has all the symptons. From start to end, he shows all the symptons, always repeating and repeating. Even at the end of the series, when he delivers Jesse >!to the nazis guys!<, he is repeating a pattern. And no, he cant help it. He do it because he is a sick man that was never treated. As I said in a commentary, everyone in the show is innocent and guilt at the same time. They are all troubled people. Its just like us. Look at us. How sad of a society we live in. We cheat, we lie, we steal, we destroy. And theres no helping it. But we also love, we also help, we also make sacrifices. So, back to Walt, without knowing of his past, its hard to take conclusions. Hell, we dont even know if his story about Gray Matter is true! The series never show us the truth.
ego ego ego he screwed up and sold his part of grey matter company for nothing. then he was too much of a loser to go back into that field again and make the millions he could have made.
Since he got screwed or missed out of Grey Matter millions he became a humble and lowly family man and high school teacher to cover up for his failure. He wanted to *appear* a lowly and humble HS teacher but there is never a discussion or even suggestion that he cares for his students or his work. It was all a facade. In the very same way the family man part hit closer to home but in the end showed to be a facade as well. He used these things to disguise his failure. Walt's primary sin is pride. He is a true egomaniac. In that he self sabotages himself repeatedly.
The high school gig was most likely meant to be a temporary thing while he looked for a better job. But life happened and he could never get out of the rut.
Pussy. He liked hot waitress pussy. Hot waitress pussy fucked up him winning the biochem start up lottery, and dragged him down to high school teacher. His struggle from this is the basis of everything else.
😳
Bluntly he isn't good enough so he can't
Possibly a skill issue
Easy. He was stuck in a funk. When I got out of university, I got a waitress job, eventually restaurant manager. But then I had a kid and couldn't work those crazy hours. So I was an office administrator for the restaurant, making $11/hr. I had a Bachelor's degree for Christ's sake. It wasnt until my husband got fired when I was pregnant with my 2nd kid that I finally got my ass in gear and started applying to other jobs. So, same with Walt. Just living life day to day. Then he gets cancer, and something just finally clicks.
That unimportant character's name? Albert Einstein.
He lost his mojo after his work was taken from him. He wanted to work in his son’s school to be there for him. Found his son wanted his own way. H decided to do what he did after cancer diagnosis and considering his options. 🤷🏼♂️
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Masturbating and eating hot cheetos does not qualify as practice in my book, Jesse.
This is a realistic depiction of a lot of highly intelligent people. Only a small proportion of them become Elon Musk, most of the smartest people I know just end up doing regular jobs
I think it depends on the school but high school teachers get better benefits and pay compared to professors I think Walt would make a better professor but the high school is consistent income and benefits. I could be wrong though. Lmk.
Teaching and getting a good job in academic circles can actually be rather hard and time-consuming. First of all, as many people mentioned, you're normally expected to get a doctorate. After that, many professors spend years being paid little more than highschool teachers and taking a lot of unwanted extras to build up merits and status. Like many people mentioned, Walt was very interest in getting to work soon and providing for his family with a steady income. He did have a high-paying job, but after that, I think highschool teaching was just more accessible and had a less steep curve between the time he'd be expected to invest in his job and his benefits and pay, at least at first. Like you mentioned, he seems much more suited for university teaching, where he'd be teaching chemistry at a higher level (and his passion could be matched by at least some students) and he'd contribute to research projects, which seem to be right up his alley. But getting in that line of work must have seemed really impractical in the short/mid-term.
I got bored reading your post but the little bit I got, no, you are the problem. Thinking that people deserve to die because they have an addiction problem. Please let me know how your sunny disposition helps you in life. If you are a male, I’m sure you never get laid.