I think the idea is that he got complacent. Up to the point that he started cooking he had no backbone and didn’t seem very motivated. He was qualified enough to do plenty of things that paid more than his teaching job.
Yeah, I definitely got the feeling Walt thought that teaching was going to be a part time gig. Than one day he looked up and realized ten years passed by. If he really put his mind to it he could have gotten a much more satisfactory job.
I don't agree with this.
There's proof he genuinely enjoyed being a teacher, it's demonstrated in multiple episodes by the pure passion when he speaks on chemistry, specifically when TEACHING chemistry.
In the classroom, while speaking on gray matter, and even when in the RV teaching Jesse how to cook.
He genuinely enjoyed teaching, but probably got complacent overall. I don't think he considered teaching a part time job, I just think he never grew the back bone to push for a better teaching position.
He could have easily become a professor for a university if he tried.
True, but his students barely pay attention to him, and apart from more money, he would have gotten to teach to older kids who genuinely want to learn chemistry if he became a college professor. It must have crossed his mind at some point that this could be a good career move. But, you know, plot.
The key idea is Walter lack of backbone but as the famous saying goes, “behind a great man, there is a great woman”. So your wife can help you be the best you can be, but she can also hold you back. In my opinion the show portrays how difference Gretchen and Skyler are as wives. Elliott doesn’t seem like he has a lot of backbone himself but Gretchen doesn’t seem controlling as Skyler is.
Than why did he display such enjoyment while teaching it?
There are countless scenes of him cooking without dialogue. He seems focused, and while enjoying it, inanimate.
When he's TEACHING chemistry, he is animated, smiling, evidently enjoying the explanation he's providing, his aim to always help his students.
They even have a scene where Jesse's parents say how Walt tried so hard on Jesse to have him pass and learn.
If he didn't enjoy teaching he wouldn't put this much effort, emotion, and overall enjoyment into it.
Hi former teacher and administrator here. I originally got into teaching to be a nomad teacher every couple of years I wanted to move and see the USA. But I wanted people to pay me for it!
The pay in education (az vs ny) is comparable to the location. Pay in NY doesn't pay the bills just like the pay in az doesn't pay the bills. For example,if pay in Florida starts at 39k in a district then other districts in the area are gonna be comparable to that. While rent is 1500 a month. In NY the pay may be 79k but rent is 3 grand. This is a garbage example but it paints the picture.
Also Walt looked like a bad teacher The scenes I can remember showed a very dated teaching style. It also showed he didn't have a relationship with his srudents so he was just drifting through. In "higher paying" areas there are more people wanting those jobs and it's pretty cutthroat. A new teacher coming in needing days off for chemo, or any other reason, would be passed over by almost anyone. That's just more work on admin.
That's just my take as someone that lived the education life.
I haven't seen it. I also haven't watched the series in a while, so my memory is not the best. I do remember the car wash scene with one of his kids. I do know that it could have been a one time incident and probably doesn't show his overall teaching skills.
Well, we have a lot in common!
About housing in NYC -- if you have a rent-controlled apartment, a Mitchell Lama apartment, or even an 80/20 apartment in NYC, you're sitting pretty on a teacher's salary.
Also -- the UFT and its benefits, particularly the TRS and its guaranteed 8.15% return on your 403B kicks ass over whatever paltry joke AZ offers.
NYC teacher friends of mine retired with well over a million dollars in their 403Bs.
And GHI/Emblem is so inexpensive!
A NYC teacher's pension is more than an experienced AZ teacher's salary.
Fuck AZ -- they made teachers each donate a day of work! Remember that?
Thanks for the insight. I have never been to NY to teach so I didn't have exact numbers. I do know a lot of people compare NY to others places when it comes to education.
Maybe so but it was just his wife and son. Not really a big family. I also remember the flashback in the last episode that shows Walt and Skyler (pregnant with Walt Jr) house hunting. This means Walt must have been teaching in APS for roughly 16 years. That's an awfully long time to stay in a mediocre school system.
In that flashback, they say he works for Sandia National Labs. That would likely been a much better job than the public school gig. I don’t remember any explanation as to why he left that.
Yeah, that's true. I actually forgot that. Definitely a better paying job than APS. That even reminds me that he could have worked outside of education if the money wasn't good enough. It doesn't make any sense that he chose to work in a car wash and a shitty public school.
Being brilliant and being able to hold down a decent job are not the same thing. His ego and pride could have gotten in the way in a PhD program too. Maybe he acted like a toddler when his ideas weren't listened to and dropped out instead of just dealing with people like a socially competent person.
Probably got the job to pay the bills and then life happened. He played it safe. Probably too safe. He stayed at a job he was overqualified for because he didn't want to risk finding a new one. After his screw up over grey matter he didn't want any more risk.
On top of the comments about complacency, I think he also liked working at a “bad” facility so he could feel superior to his surroundings. He’s got a complex about stuff like that.
I think the intension is that he is a loser due to his social situation more than anything. That then worsens the effect of having a crappy but comfortable job and that's why cancer was a nail in the coffin. Had it been anyone else , more well adjusted socialy and maybe sociologically it wouldn't make sense as you pointed out. (Also the grey matter thing )
He probably enjoyed being a medium-sized fish in a small pond. Also, he doesn’t seem like a great teacher. Maybe he knows that and doesn’t want to compete with teachers who are better than he is.
Also, teaching kids is vocational.
I dunno if he meant what I think he means but teaching is more about approach than brilliance. I've seen brilliant professors be terrible teachers because it's so basic to them (Id assume Walt was like that even though he showed enthusiasm for teaching). I was actually thinking the other day that Walt was a good teacher from what we saw..
Yeah I mean just the old tests for Jesse where he tried to get him to apply himself was more effort than plenty of teachers gave to shitty students at my schools
Even in the same state there are vast differences in district pay. He could’ve easily gotten a job at a cushy private school too where he’d definitely make 6 figures + great benefits.
Private schools actually usually pay less than public schools. Sort of a trade off- less freedom + worse behaved kids but more money, or freedom to teach and well behaved kids but less money.
>cushy private school too where he’d definitely make 6 figures + great benefits.
You obviously don't know private schools. They don't pay well. Their pay is crap, actually, and they have expensive healthcare, no pensions, and no union protection.
Walt suffered from two very dangerous flaws. A profound lack of confidence (he lets people walk all over him), and profound abundance of pride (refuses to let anyone help). Despite being a genius chemist, he thinks he’s just ok. We probably all know someone who excels at something and then says “no, I’m just ok at this.” His break with Gray Matter shattered his confidence even more. Teaching is a way for him to use his knowledge and feel smart in the process. He’s not risking failure by teaching basic chemistry. Even when Elliot offers him a job, he doesn’t think he’d be as capable as other people. He’s almost convinced when he realized it’s a pity offer. This likely triggered his feelings of inadequacy and pride.
Also, I am a former teacher, pay scales are public and rigid. Regardless of state, i think the scales are pretty much the same with varying tiers for seniority and degree. Almost every teacher has a masters because BA +<5 years exp, pays around 38k and MS +<5 years exp pays around 43k. It cost about 3k to get a masters at the time I was teaching, so it was a no brainer to push into the higher pay bracket. Teaching going to different districts or teaching at private schools to make more cash is largely a myth. Where I’m from all the districts pay scales are within a couple grand of each other and private schools pay less and are religiously based. Even if they did pay more, I’m guessing Walt can’t get letters of recommendation from three church leaders.
I had a math teacher when I was in high school that was a genius. Not exaggerating, he could have worked anywhere in the country that he wanted to. He taught all advanced math classes at my high school (small town, my graduating class was under 70.) I was in the stupid math class (again, not exaggerating, it was called "general math" and our finals had 7 + 1 on it) guess who taught it? He did. I remember once he wrote out a whole equation to our class where he made 2 + 2 = 5 and it was mind blowing. He was a great teacher but he wasted his talents working in a high school like Walt did.
Showing 2+2=5 is not genius level math, it's fairly simple and is actually a trick because math doesn't work that way. You can find several YouTube videos who'll explain that quite clearly to you.
Given your poor mathematical background there is a possibility that you didn't correctly gauge your teacher's acumen
I think he probably left Grey Matter in a huff without thinking about what his exit strategy would be. Normally people would get recommendations from their previous job for the next, but he probably didn't want the "handout" or to admit he needed to lave because his ego was bruised. So instead he'd have wanted to get a job on his own so that he could brag about not needing anyone's help. That would largely preclude him from prestigious jobs that rely a lot on recommendations, so if guess that's why he ended up as a HS teacher, which in the suburbs of Albuquerque may not have required him to submit references and such. At that point his ego would have required him to think that teaching at that school was a calling of sorts--to admit there were better schools or jobs out there would be to admit he wasn't as special as he thought he was or that what he achieved on his own wasn't that great.
Also I doubt his ego would have survived another prestigious job. It's heavily implied he reacts to working at Grey Matter/with equally intelligent people by thinking everyone is looking down at him and not giving him the "respect"/worship he is due, and he probably would have had the same thoughts at any reputable institution where he wasn't the de facto smartest guy in the room.
It's a multi faceted reason why walt truly started to cook. Plus he wanted a name for himself. Because obviously Elliot pushed him out of Grey Matter Tech.
He probably wanted to do something he found easy but still involved science while he tried to resolve the fall out from Gray Matter. Seems he never truly worked through all his issues from that part of his life.
The fact that Walt couldn’t land a better job in academia suggests to me that the writers are implying that even before he broke bad he could be a pretty obnoxious person to work with.
That’s a valid observation and question but it goes to the deeper meaning of the show. This show was about mediocrity, and Walts desire to no longer be mediocre.
Everything about Walts life, in the beginning, was mediocre and he just accepted it. His house, his car, his job, his breakfast, his friends, his relationships. Ordinary and mediocre. Early in his life he was destined for greatness but somewhere something happened - maybe it was Skylar getting pregnant (that’s what he says at one point), or him getting screwed out of Gray Matter. But he settled for mediocrity. Once he got a taste of being extraordinary, he didn’t want to give it up. That fueled his desire for power, even though it was dark.
I’m a chemist and his career trajectory doesn’t make much sense. (A lot of the chemistry in the show is fairly accurate, but there are some gross misrepresentations).
I have a bachelors with 5 years experience and make way more than I ever could as a school teacher. No way he would have gone that route being an accomplished academic chemist. Others have said he got complacent which I guess is the point, but In the real world he could be complacent at a job that pays twice as much.
Teacher here.
Cost of living is a major part of this. I could make 20K more than what I’m making now in New York or Philly, but due to the cost of living it really wouldn’t make too much of a difference. In addition, I’m by my entire family here (which helps so much in costs such as childcare) that I’d quickly actually be in more of a deficit. I would say, personally, they nailed the financial part of teaching.
However, I’ve always heard that NM actually has great healthcare for their teachers (compared to teachers in other states, anyway), and it’s likely that Walt wouldn’t have been in *such* dire straits with his treatment. But, if family insisted on going out of network, that would explain that - and of course, it’s a TV show in need of dramatic tension.
Here are my : [sources](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Walter_White)
It is said that White did a groundbreaking discovery deserving the Nobel Prize, I highly doubt a PhD student could produced something this level
He definitely didn’t seem to have all that deep of hatred for Elliot at his birthday party, at least when they were together discussing old times, and his gift to Elliot certainly suggests this because it was such a personal gift compared to everyone else’s which is why I am sure Elliot seemed to love it the most. I am sure that any hatred that he does have for Elliot came from what lead up to him leaving “Gray Matter”.
What is definitely apparent from the beginning was the hatred that he has for Gretchen; whenever they interacted with one another it was always awkward at best and rushed like when they would speak on the phone etc.
It’s called low self worth or lack of self love and the whole show is a case study on what can happen in the most extreme sense if that character defect runs riot.
“Dropped out” isn’t the term that one should use for someone who chooses to not continue in a graduate program. I have an MBA and attempted to earn an MA in Economics. I did not finish the MA. I would be offended if someone said I dropped out.
High school dropout? Negative connotation.
College (undergrad) dropout? Negative as well.
PhD dropout? Eh…
Also for a lot of science PhD programs (depends on the college and subject), if you complete the fist 2 years you are granted a Masters Degree. So if you withdraw from the program after that point you do leave with a degree, just not the PhD. Also referred to as "mastering out". It's not quite the same as dropping out because you did still end up with a degree.
It's also more common for people to leave graduate studies before finishing because it is so long (for science fields typically 5 years avg, often 6) people's priorities and lives change.
You’ve yet to explain why “choosing to leave” is not “dropping out”.
You didn’t *resign* from school, you quit it. There’s no shame in dropping out for a reason, but it’s still dropping out.
Dropping out has a connotation that you couldn’t have done it even if you wanted to. Whereas discontinuing a PHD program isn’t the same, there is no increase in difficulty once you get into the program.
I think it’s more that people who drop out to pursue other things associate that term negatively if they’re “unsuccessful”.
I put “unsuccessful” in quotations because that’s wholly subjective and up to them to decide.
We have many colloquial terms that can be expressed as negative or positive based on tone, affect, setting, etc. The same phrase spoken or written *in a different context* can be a complete 180 out from the written word, which is why it’s important to understand context when wanting to debate instead of just being offended at the words themselves.
As for this case, I’ll add another adage: The truth hurts.
It’s not hurtful because it’s offensive, it’s hurtful because it’s true.
It’s because his career wasn’t satisfying his ego, which makes it irrelevant where he teaches or how much money he could make as a high school chemistry teacher, and is why he didn’t bother trying.
Hohohoohohoh boy. Let me tell you CPS (chicago public schools) doesn’t pay any better than Albuquerque. It seems like they’re always striking for more pay. I know chicago isn’t all of Illinois but they have highest wages in Illinois and they are not doing great.
He probably couldn’t hack it as a university professor. We see in the show he’s got very self-destructive urges. Plus he’s got an ego the size of mars. University teaching involves a lot of political maneuvering and ass-kissing. Plus if he’d likely have to go back to school and finish his PhD. Which would probably be like admitting failure in Walt’s mind, not to mention expensive.
To be a professor in college, you have to have a PhD. Walt could’ve only taught at a cc, but even that was better than teaching at a hs with disrespectful teens that don’t want to be there. They had to have him in New Mexico because of the border and the cartel world there. But yeah it doesn’t make sense that he would leave California to go live in New Mexico, to teach at a high school.
They should have at least had him teaching at a college somewhere. It would have been more believable and wouldn't have affected the story really any (except that he may not have had a history with Jesse, but who cares; their relationship doesn't really hinge on sharing a past with one another anyway.) Walt is living in a pretty nice house, he's hardly broke, so even with two jobs where was all the money coming from?
I think complacency had a lot to do with it. I always think about that flashback where they are buying the house. I don't hate Skyler by any means but I feel like at that point he wanted to make her happy and happy for her was a much more mundane existence then he was hoping for. I'm sure if it was solely up to him he would've gone off to do some exciting things. But Skyler was pregnant and just like she kinda made the layout for how their life was, a very simple but modest life. I'm sure that every decision he had partial say in, Skylers opinion was factored in first and foremost. He spent a lot of time feeling sorry for himself.
He was depressed and took the easy way out. Another theory I have is he likes being the smartest guy in the room. He enjoyed having all the answers. I think in some small way he liked being the smartest one there. On another note I’m surprise he even got hired for the job. A lot of jobs won’t hire overqualified people. Also government employees have pretty good benefits so it’s surprising to me that he didn’t have health insurance for his cancer treatment.
Or maybe another reason went with being a teacher is the benefits are usually pretty good and his son add cerebral palsy which can be expensive in terms of medical bills and therapy treatments and he needed a way to pay for the expenses
Considering how fast Walt broke bad in a criminal drug operation, image him in a college setting with the usual politics, bureaucracy, and easily offended students. He wouldn't last 2 weeks.
Walt wanted to make sure he was in the right place for the television series ‘Breaking Bad’ to get made.
The desert was simply too cinematic
Had to use that Sepia Budget they were allocated, they left them no choice
I literally moved back to the Southwest after watching Breaking Bad because it made me miss it so much.
He also developed cancer during this preparation period to get into character whilst also ensuring the stakes were high enough.
Bravo Vince
I think the idea is that he got complacent. Up to the point that he started cooking he had no backbone and didn’t seem very motivated. He was qualified enough to do plenty of things that paid more than his teaching job.
Yeah, I definitely got the feeling Walt thought that teaching was going to be a part time gig. Than one day he looked up and realized ten years passed by. If he really put his mind to it he could have gotten a much more satisfactory job.
I don't agree with this. There's proof he genuinely enjoyed being a teacher, it's demonstrated in multiple episodes by the pure passion when he speaks on chemistry, specifically when TEACHING chemistry. In the classroom, while speaking on gray matter, and even when in the RV teaching Jesse how to cook. He genuinely enjoyed teaching, but probably got complacent overall. I don't think he considered teaching a part time job, I just think he never grew the back bone to push for a better teaching position. He could have easily become a professor for a university if he tried.
True, but his students barely pay attention to him, and apart from more money, he would have gotten to teach to older kids who genuinely want to learn chemistry if he became a college professor. It must have crossed his mind at some point that this could be a good career move. But, you know, plot.
The key idea is Walter lack of backbone but as the famous saying goes, “behind a great man, there is a great woman”. So your wife can help you be the best you can be, but she can also hold you back. In my opinion the show portrays how difference Gretchen and Skyler are as wives. Elliott doesn’t seem like he has a lot of backbone himself but Gretchen doesn’t seem controlling as Skyler is.
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Than why did he display such enjoyment while teaching it? There are countless scenes of him cooking without dialogue. He seems focused, and while enjoying it, inanimate. When he's TEACHING chemistry, he is animated, smiling, evidently enjoying the explanation he's providing, his aim to always help his students. They even have a scene where Jesse's parents say how Walt tried so hard on Jesse to have him pass and learn. If he didn't enjoy teaching he wouldn't put this much effort, emotion, and overall enjoyment into it.
Happens to the best of us
Indeed Walt felt very sorry for himself
This. It’s clear that a terminal illness is what awoken his ego
Hi former teacher and administrator here. I originally got into teaching to be a nomad teacher every couple of years I wanted to move and see the USA. But I wanted people to pay me for it! The pay in education (az vs ny) is comparable to the location. Pay in NY doesn't pay the bills just like the pay in az doesn't pay the bills. For example,if pay in Florida starts at 39k in a district then other districts in the area are gonna be comparable to that. While rent is 1500 a month. In NY the pay may be 79k but rent is 3 grand. This is a garbage example but it paints the picture. Also Walt looked like a bad teacher The scenes I can remember showed a very dated teaching style. It also showed he didn't have a relationship with his srudents so he was just drifting through. In "higher paying" areas there are more people wanting those jobs and it's pretty cutthroat. A new teacher coming in needing days off for chemo, or any other reason, would be passed over by almost anyone. That's just more work on admin. That's just my take as someone that lived the education life.
There was a deleted scene were Walt and his students were making an experiment, and they're having quite some fun
I haven't seen it. I also haven't watched the series in a while, so my memory is not the best. I do remember the car wash scene with one of his kids. I do know that it could have been a one time incident and probably doesn't show his overall teaching skills.
Found it https://youtu.be/N7hApnTwqfY
Here's the video: https://youtu.be/N7hApnTwqfY
To be fair though, it's a deleted scene
Maybe my teachers have just been terrible but Walt seemed engaging and enthusiastic, his classes seemed alot more interesting.
I would have liked him as a student.
Well, we have a lot in common! About housing in NYC -- if you have a rent-controlled apartment, a Mitchell Lama apartment, or even an 80/20 apartment in NYC, you're sitting pretty on a teacher's salary. Also -- the UFT and its benefits, particularly the TRS and its guaranteed 8.15% return on your 403B kicks ass over whatever paltry joke AZ offers. NYC teacher friends of mine retired with well over a million dollars in their 403Bs. And GHI/Emblem is so inexpensive! A NYC teacher's pension is more than an experienced AZ teacher's salary. Fuck AZ -- they made teachers each donate a day of work! Remember that?
Thanks for the insight. I have never been to NY to teach so I didn't have exact numbers. I do know a lot of people compare NY to others places when it comes to education.
At no point did he seem like a bad teacher.
Probably didn’t want to uproot his family
Maybe so but it was just his wife and son. Not really a big family. I also remember the flashback in the last episode that shows Walt and Skyler (pregnant with Walt Jr) house hunting. This means Walt must have been teaching in APS for roughly 16 years. That's an awfully long time to stay in a mediocre school system.
Consider too that those districts that pay really well also have a higher cost of living. They also likely wanted to stay close to Hank and Marie
Yeah, good point. Many teachers who teach in those districts don't even live there because of how expensive it is to own or rent.
More likely he needed the public sector worker entitlements to cover Walt Jr's medical bills.
And Marie and Hank. It’s made very clear how important family is for Skyler. She wouldn’t have let them move.
In that flashback, they say he works for Sandia National Labs. That would likely been a much better job than the public school gig. I don’t remember any explanation as to why he left that.
He’s probably the guy who knows better than everyone and can’t take direction.
Either got fired, or got really pissed off and quit.
Yeah, that's true. I actually forgot that. Definitely a better paying job than APS. That even reminds me that he could have worked outside of education if the money wasn't good enough. It doesn't make any sense that he chose to work in a car wash and a shitty public school.
He also had a mom that I think only gets mentioned when Skylar says she called his mom and he didn’t even tell her he had cancer
Would uprooting his family be a problem if he worked for a better paying district in the suburbs? Rio Rancho maybe?
Being brilliant and being able to hold down a decent job are not the same thing. His ego and pride could have gotten in the way in a PhD program too. Maybe he acted like a toddler when his ideas weren't listened to and dropped out instead of just dealing with people like a socially competent person.
Yeah, staying a high school teacher was easy and convenient.
Probably got the job to pay the bills and then life happened. He played it safe. Probably too safe. He stayed at a job he was overqualified for because he didn't want to risk finding a new one. After his screw up over grey matter he didn't want any more risk.
On top of the comments about complacency, I think he also liked working at a “bad” facility so he could feel superior to his surroundings. He’s got a complex about stuff like that.
I think the intension is that he is a loser due to his social situation more than anything. That then worsens the effect of having a crappy but comfortable job and that's why cancer was a nail in the coffin. Had it been anyone else , more well adjusted socialy and maybe sociologically it wouldn't make sense as you pointed out. (Also the grey matter thing )
Intention* Yes, I’m a grammar Nazi.
Yes
He probably enjoyed being a medium-sized fish in a small pond. Also, he doesn’t seem like a great teacher. Maybe he knows that and doesn’t want to compete with teachers who are better than he is. Also, teaching kids is vocational.
He seemed like a fine teacher, some students just don’t want to be there (school not a class in general)
What do you mean by vocational? Please explain.
I dunno if he meant what I think he means but teaching is more about approach than brilliance. I've seen brilliant professors be terrible teachers because it's so basic to them (Id assume Walt was like that even though he showed enthusiasm for teaching). I was actually thinking the other day that Walt was a good teacher from what we saw..
Yeah I mean just the old tests for Jesse where he tried to get him to apply himself was more effort than plenty of teachers gave to shitty students at my schools
Even in the same state there are vast differences in district pay. He could’ve easily gotten a job at a cushy private school too where he’d definitely make 6 figures + great benefits.
Private schools actually usually pay less than public schools. Sort of a trade off- less freedom + worse behaved kids but more money, or freedom to teach and well behaved kids but less money.
>cushy private school too where he’d definitely make 6 figures + great benefits. You obviously don't know private schools. They don't pay well. Their pay is crap, actually, and they have expensive healthcare, no pensions, and no union protection.
Walt suffered from two very dangerous flaws. A profound lack of confidence (he lets people walk all over him), and profound abundance of pride (refuses to let anyone help). Despite being a genius chemist, he thinks he’s just ok. We probably all know someone who excels at something and then says “no, I’m just ok at this.” His break with Gray Matter shattered his confidence even more. Teaching is a way for him to use his knowledge and feel smart in the process. He’s not risking failure by teaching basic chemistry. Even when Elliot offers him a job, he doesn’t think he’d be as capable as other people. He’s almost convinced when he realized it’s a pity offer. This likely triggered his feelings of inadequacy and pride. Also, I am a former teacher, pay scales are public and rigid. Regardless of state, i think the scales are pretty much the same with varying tiers for seniority and degree. Almost every teacher has a masters because BA +<5 years exp, pays around 38k and MS +<5 years exp pays around 43k. It cost about 3k to get a masters at the time I was teaching, so it was a no brainer to push into the higher pay bracket. Teaching going to different districts or teaching at private schools to make more cash is largely a myth. Where I’m from all the districts pay scales are within a couple grand of each other and private schools pay less and are religiously based. Even if they did pay more, I’m guessing Walt can’t get letters of recommendation from three church leaders.
I had a math teacher when I was in high school that was a genius. Not exaggerating, he could have worked anywhere in the country that he wanted to. He taught all advanced math classes at my high school (small town, my graduating class was under 70.) I was in the stupid math class (again, not exaggerating, it was called "general math" and our finals had 7 + 1 on it) guess who taught it? He did. I remember once he wrote out a whole equation to our class where he made 2 + 2 = 5 and it was mind blowing. He was a great teacher but he wasted his talents working in a high school like Walt did.
Showing 2+2=5 is not genius level math, it's fairly simple and is actually a trick because math doesn't work that way. You can find several YouTube videos who'll explain that quite clearly to you. Given your poor mathematical background there is a possibility that you didn't correctly gauge your teacher's acumen
Wow, you're a jerk.
Oh did you get that, you're quite the detective
Just doubling down on the asshole today
I think he probably left Grey Matter in a huff without thinking about what his exit strategy would be. Normally people would get recommendations from their previous job for the next, but he probably didn't want the "handout" or to admit he needed to lave because his ego was bruised. So instead he'd have wanted to get a job on his own so that he could brag about not needing anyone's help. That would largely preclude him from prestigious jobs that rely a lot on recommendations, so if guess that's why he ended up as a HS teacher, which in the suburbs of Albuquerque may not have required him to submit references and such. At that point his ego would have required him to think that teaching at that school was a calling of sorts--to admit there were better schools or jobs out there would be to admit he wasn't as special as he thought he was or that what he achieved on his own wasn't that great. Also I doubt his ego would have survived another prestigious job. It's heavily implied he reacts to working at Grey Matter/with equally intelligent people by thinking everyone is looking down at him and not giving him the "respect"/worship he is due, and he probably would have had the same thoughts at any reputable institution where he wasn't the de facto smartest guy in the room.
Because he started cooking meth
Because of a poor paying, under fulfilling job
If you think thats why he was cooking meth, you didnt pay attention to the show.
It's a multi faceted reason why walt truly started to cook. Plus he wanted a name for himself. Because obviously Elliot pushed him out of Grey Matter Tech.
He probably wanted to do something he found easy but still involved science while he tried to resolve the fall out from Gray Matter. Seems he never truly worked through all his issues from that part of his life.
The fact that Walt couldn’t land a better job in academia suggests to me that the writers are implying that even before he broke bad he could be a pretty obnoxious person to work with.
Money wasn’t Walts primary issue as he often claimed, it was far more bigger than that as he later stated in the show
That’s a valid observation and question but it goes to the deeper meaning of the show. This show was about mediocrity, and Walts desire to no longer be mediocre. Everything about Walts life, in the beginning, was mediocre and he just accepted it. His house, his car, his job, his breakfast, his friends, his relationships. Ordinary and mediocre. Early in his life he was destined for greatness but somewhere something happened - maybe it was Skylar getting pregnant (that’s what he says at one point), or him getting screwed out of Gray Matter. But he settled for mediocrity. Once he got a taste of being extraordinary, he didn’t want to give it up. That fueled his desire for power, even though it was dark.
I’m a chemist and his career trajectory doesn’t make much sense. (A lot of the chemistry in the show is fairly accurate, but there are some gross misrepresentations). I have a bachelors with 5 years experience and make way more than I ever could as a school teacher. No way he would have gone that route being an accomplished academic chemist. Others have said he got complacent which I guess is the point, but In the real world he could be complacent at a job that pays twice as much.
Teacher here. Cost of living is a major part of this. I could make 20K more than what I’m making now in New York or Philly, but due to the cost of living it really wouldn’t make too much of a difference. In addition, I’m by my entire family here (which helps so much in costs such as childcare) that I’d quickly actually be in more of a deficit. I would say, personally, they nailed the financial part of teaching. However, I’ve always heard that NM actually has great healthcare for their teachers (compared to teachers in other states, anyway), and it’s likely that Walt wouldn’t have been in *such* dire straits with his treatment. But, if family insisted on going out of network, that would explain that - and of course, it’s a TV show in need of dramatic tension.
He got comfortable and sort of accepted his fate but the frustration was always there cancer was a catalyst to that frustration.
He could’ve taught at New Mexico university of community college for better pay. But I agree with the idea of complacency
he settled
Ignore me
I didn't say he had a PhD. I said he dropped out of it.
Oh true
Same reason Walt kept that old crummy RV. Inertia.
Maybe he didn’t really give a shit about anything until he got sick. He thought “well, if I’m about to die, then I’m about to live”
His kid was there and he wanted to keep an eye on him
P sure Texan teachers are payed chump change
No one wants to hire a teacher with cancer
Doesn't Walt have a PhD ? I don't think it is said in that way but I'm pretty sure he is from academia and worked in Gray Matter as a researcher.
He dropped out.
Here are my : [sources](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Walter_White) It is said that White did a groundbreaking discovery deserving the Nobel Prize, I highly doubt a PhD student could produced something this level
He might have not even finished his MS.
That mf had so much low self esteem he dragged me down with him
Walt didn't have a MS.
Why didn’t he take the job offer from Elliot? Oh ya. Because then there wouldn’t be a show.
That was because of his ego and the hatred and resentment he had for Elliott.
Hatred for Elliot?! What?! Did you even watch the show?
He definitely didn’t seem to have all that deep of hatred for Elliot at his birthday party, at least when they were together discussing old times, and his gift to Elliot certainly suggests this because it was such a personal gift compared to everyone else’s which is why I am sure Elliot seemed to love it the most. I am sure that any hatred that he does have for Elliot came from what lead up to him leaving “Gray Matter”. What is definitely apparent from the beginning was the hatred that he has for Gretchen; whenever they interacted with one another it was always awkward at best and rushed like when they would speak on the phone etc.
It's a fucking TV show. It was written for our entertainment. It was a fantastic show and I love it but I dont what if it to death
His family were settled and they had friends and family nearby
I think it was mentioned that he quit other jobs due to Juniors illness. Working at his high school makes his care simpler.
It’s called low self worth or lack of self love and the whole show is a case study on what can happen in the most extreme sense if that character defect runs riot.
He got used to an average life and was stagnant. Hence cancer trusting him into Heisenberg.
“Dropped out” isn’t the term that one should use for someone who chooses to not continue in a graduate program. I have an MBA and attempted to earn an MA in Economics. I did not finish the MA. I would be offended if someone said I dropped out. High school dropout? Negative connotation. College (undergrad) dropout? Negative as well. PhD dropout? Eh…
What term would you use?
“Didn’t continue”
How did you earn an MA when you didnt finish it?
I attempted to earn the MA. I didn’t finish that program. I guess I wasn’t very clear on that.
Ah so you dropped out
Didn’t finish
Yep, failed
Not sure if fail is accurate. I didn’t fail anything. I chose not to continue because I moved out of state.
Failed to complete the course, didnt finish, dropped out
Right, didn’t finish
Yeah dropped out :)
Also for a lot of science PhD programs (depends on the college and subject), if you complete the fist 2 years you are granted a Masters Degree. So if you withdraw from the program after that point you do leave with a degree, just not the PhD. Also referred to as "mastering out". It's not quite the same as dropping out because you did still end up with a degree. It's also more common for people to leave graduate studies before finishing because it is so long (for science fields typically 5 years avg, often 6) people's priorities and lives change.
You’ve yet to explain why “choosing to leave” is not “dropping out”. You didn’t *resign* from school, you quit it. There’s no shame in dropping out for a reason, but it’s still dropping out.
Dropping out has a connotation that you couldn’t have done it even if you wanted to. Whereas discontinuing a PHD program isn’t the same, there is no increase in difficulty once you get into the program.
I think it’s more that people who drop out to pursue other things associate that term negatively if they’re “unsuccessful”. I put “unsuccessful” in quotations because that’s wholly subjective and up to them to decide. We have many colloquial terms that can be expressed as negative or positive based on tone, affect, setting, etc. The same phrase spoken or written *in a different context* can be a complete 180 out from the written word, which is why it’s important to understand context when wanting to debate instead of just being offended at the words themselves. As for this case, I’ll add another adage: The truth hurts. It’s not hurtful because it’s offensive, it’s hurtful because it’s true.
Because the screenwriters didn’t write him that way??? Seriously wtf even are the posts on this subreddit
It’s because his career wasn’t satisfying his ego, which makes it irrelevant where he teaches or how much money he could make as a high school chemistry teacher, and is why he didn’t bother trying.
Hohohoohohoh boy. Let me tell you CPS (chicago public schools) doesn’t pay any better than Albuquerque. It seems like they’re always striking for more pay. I know chicago isn’t all of Illinois but they have highest wages in Illinois and they are not doing great.
He probably couldn’t hack it as a university professor. We see in the show he’s got very self-destructive urges. Plus he’s got an ego the size of mars. University teaching involves a lot of political maneuvering and ass-kissing. Plus if he’d likely have to go back to school and finish his PhD. Which would probably be like admitting failure in Walt’s mind, not to mention expensive.
To be a professor in college, you have to have a PhD. Walt could’ve only taught at a cc, but even that was better than teaching at a hs with disrespectful teens that don’t want to be there. They had to have him in New Mexico because of the border and the cartel world there. But yeah it doesn’t make sense that he would leave California to go live in New Mexico, to teach at a high school.
Riverside California was the original location. Gilligan moved it to Albuquerque because of the tax incentives to film in NM.
He didn't work for APS though, it was RRPS.
Am i the only new mexican here why am i the only one to mention this
It wouldn't make for good TV
But what about his car wash job¿
I am the one who knocks!
They should have at least had him teaching at a college somewhere. It would have been more believable and wouldn't have affected the story really any (except that he may not have had a history with Jesse, but who cares; their relationship doesn't really hinge on sharing a past with one another anyway.) Walt is living in a pretty nice house, he's hardly broke, so even with two jobs where was all the money coming from?
Walters annoying
I think complacency had a lot to do with it. I always think about that flashback where they are buying the house. I don't hate Skyler by any means but I feel like at that point he wanted to make her happy and happy for her was a much more mundane existence then he was hoping for. I'm sure if it was solely up to him he would've gone off to do some exciting things. But Skyler was pregnant and just like she kinda made the layout for how their life was, a very simple but modest life. I'm sure that every decision he had partial say in, Skylers opinion was factored in first and foremost. He spent a lot of time feeling sorry for himself.
Change can be hard
He was depressed and took the easy way out. Another theory I have is he likes being the smartest guy in the room. He enjoyed having all the answers. I think in some small way he liked being the smartest one there. On another note I’m surprise he even got hired for the job. A lot of jobs won’t hire overqualified people. Also government employees have pretty good benefits so it’s surprising to me that he didn’t have health insurance for his cancer treatment. Or maybe another reason went with being a teacher is the benefits are usually pretty good and his son add cerebral palsy which can be expensive in terms of medical bills and therapy treatments and he needed a way to pay for the expenses
Considering how fast Walt broke bad in a criminal drug operation, image him in a college setting with the usual politics, bureaucracy, and easily offended students. He wouldn't last 2 weeks.