Marc discusses his career changes, and the traumatic events and job conditions that led him to resign, and turn to teaching high school. That pivot taught him a number of things, most of which were different than what he had convinced himself about his motivation. He explains how he got into teaching, how it changed him, and how he got out of it. Listen in for a look at a career pivot that turned South quickly, and caused a major rethinking of a life.   Key Takeaways: [2:37] Marc begins his story of going from high-tech training to teaching high school math in the inner city, and why he returned after 18 months. Marc was very successful, but seduced himself into thinking he was something he was not. [2:56] In 1990, while working for IBM, Marc moved to a technology transfer group, to prepare for selling a leading-edge product, by developing curriculum, and delivering it to over 1,000 salespeople and sales engineers. Marc did that for three years and was really good at it. He spent the rest of the decade presenting. [3:36] Marc had transformed himself from being an introvert, to appearing to be an extrovert. In the late 1990s, IBM started layoffs. After a bad pension deal, Marc left in 2000 to be a trainer for a startup. He developed curriculum, had a small team, and taught leading-edge router and communication companies how to use a network chip. [4:26] The team developed very sophisticated curriculum and taught the class about twice a month. Marc spent much more time preparing than he did delivering. He is a much better curriculum developer than a presenter. After the dotcom boom, he flew to Asia regularly to meet with manufacturers. [5:28] On July 11, 2002, Marc was riding with his bicycle club on a difficult route. Going at 25 mph downhill, around a blind turn, Marc found himself slamming head-on into a ‘96 Toyota Corolla. His body and bicycle totalled the car. Marc was taken to the emergency room. He spent five days in the trauma center with various injuries. [6:30] Marc was walking on crutches in three days, and back on a bicycle in 10 weeks, and flying back to China in four months, right into the SARS epidemic. Marc wondered what he was doing! The company was bought, and his stock options were worthless, but he received six-figure retention bonuses, and paid off his house and debts. [7:26] Marc decided he would teach high school math. This was his MSU moment. In 2003 the company was laying off, and Marc was pursuing teaching certifications. He went for the alternative certification for teaching, and saw several signs he didn’t quite fit the mold of the ideal candidate, but he proceeded. [10:29] He took the THEA test in English, and had to write a 600-word essay in pencil and paper. He hadn’t written with pencil in 25 years. While he was going for his certification, Marc volunteered to take a layoff, and got a severance. Then he got his rejection letter from Region 13 of the Texas Higher Education Assessment. [11:08] Marc wondered what next. He saw Austin Community College was launching an alternative certification program. Marc applied and was accepted. The programs was of low quality, and didn’t prepare him to teach math. He took the test anyway, and passed. Then he, and other men over 40 with the certification, found they couldn’t get interviews. [12:56] The schools didn’t want guys over 40, because they don’t do what they’re told. However, one week before school started, an opportunity came up at Akins High School, and he applied and was hired. His five-day new teacher orientation was useless. For a week he couldn’t access the attendance system. [14:13] Marc was assigned two sections of Algebra 2 and three sections of Algebra 1. That put him ‘on stage’ for 25 hours a week, which was exhausting. As a first-year teacher, every lesson was new to him, so he spent hours prepping. By Thanksgiving his morale was low. Marc found out, he does not get his energy from being ‘on.’ [15:46] Marc got lesson plans for Algebra 1 from t