For a long time, I believed securing a tenure-track job was the only way to prove to my academic community that “I had arrived!” So, I tried and succeeded. The process was dehumanizing, and I grew highly disillusioned with the academic world. I spent months editing my cover letter and my purpose, research & teaching statements. I also designed three semester-long course samples for some positions, and I interviewed. Campus interviews in my field can be extremely exhaustive. They interview the candidate for three days, even during breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I feel the process is dehumanizing because often, the interviewing committee makes their final candidates wait for up to two months before sending them a rejection letter. Two months: without a word!