Devin Dawson, part-time professor

By your mid-thirties, you'd achieved your dreams: your Ph.D. in biochemistry skyrocketed your profile as one of the youngest of your university to achieve doctorate status, and you'd been quickly hired by another university to inspire students to seek the bounds of knowledge of the capabilities of matter in the universe, just as professors had done for you! Teaching was your passion, and now you could better the world through breakthrough research and finding ways to connect with your students.

Then reality set in. It turns out that doctorates don't get as much mileage as they used to, and most of the money the university you worked at generated in tuition funneled right into athletic programs. Your passion to teach remained undiminished, but it became obvious that in order to not continue on your undergrad diet of instant ramen and basically nothing else, you needed another income source.

Fortunately, Hideki Labs recognized your talent both as a chemist and as an educator and brought you into the company on the premise of a partnership of outreach for scientific literacy for the broader public. Hideki helped you develop learning modules to post online called "Chemistry in 3D", giving you a nickname of '3D' instead of being called Doctor Devin Dawson all the time. You'd make new weekly videos explaining isotopes, or covalent bonding, or acids and bases in fun ways for non-scientists to grasp. Of course, you'd often be explaining biochemical processes critical to Hideki products as well, as per the contract.

For a while, this arrangement felt acceptable. But problems began to mount, as you felt like you'd become more an entertainer than professor. Your neat and tidy look and charming smile were far more recognizable to most than your academic accomplishments. When you voiced your concerns to Hideki management, all you heard was static in return for the longest time. All you wanted was an opportunity to participate in some new research, no matter the topic! You felt the need to get away from the camera and back to the beakers in the labs.

So, you checked your email again on your phone as you headed up to the fifth floor, making sure the email titled "run trials for R&D project?" wasn't just a figment of your imagination.