“I love to teach because that’s my stage,” explains Matt Thompson, an adjunct at Old Dominion University. But landing a teaching job—his Plan A—has been next to impossible. “Becoming a college professor at the tenure-track level is something like moving to New York City and trying to become a dancer on Broadway,” he says. “I gave it a shot. It didn’t work out, but it’s time to go on to the next thing.” His Plan B is “to transition out of a career as a professor and become an academic librarian.”
Video and editing by Greg Kahn; Reporting by Audrey Williams June; Produced by Rose Engelland
