I'll Decide on a Title Later

I learned today that an actor I worked with on two plays passed away last month at the age of 67. I started to re-watch the television show "NOS4A2," in which he appeared during two episodes. I looked him up on IMDB.com to see if he were still acting and saw his years of life before his credits. The photo below, taken during a publicity rehearsal, features him on the far left.  Bruce Serafin was a large, physically intimidating actor. I worked with him on stage productions of "Twelve Angry Jurors" and "Awake and Sing!" I first met him during an audition for the first show. We both arrived at a seemingly sketchy location for theater auditions, neither of us believing this was possibly the right place for us both to be. From that first moment I could feel a strong energy from him. He was not polite about the dark parking lot and the flight of stairs that awaited us as we walked up toward the audition. He made a few choice comments about our shared experience...

 Since earning my doctorate just over four months ago, I have heard different versions of the same question: So, what are you going to do with it?  It took me some time to craft a halfway intelligent response on demand. I felt the implied pressure that I was supposed to suddenly advance in my profession, and while that may have happened for some people, it has not happened for me, and spoiler alert, I don't want it to advance my profession. Even before being called "Doctor" the first time, I was looking for work on higheredjobs.com and through the human resources at the three colleges I've worked at that still exist. I applied for one position each at the three colleges and did not even land an interview. I would read the minimum requirements for other positions and be discouraged. I had the 'wrong kind' of experience. Yes, I know you should still apply if you feel you could do the job, but that wasn't the takeaway of the most recent job search. What I fin...