Burnout chronicles the experience of a new Teach for America corps member placed in one of New Orleans' toughest neighborhoods. As an elementary school teacher, Kennedy discovers how his students (and himself) process the full range of inner-city problems. Kennedy tackles the obstacles head-on, but his no-excuses mentality eventually reaches a boiling point and snaps. He is then forced to reevaluate his own limits as a teacher and reconcile the mistakes that he made while operating under an unsustainable mindset.