I work at a prominent North American university and I hold a position outside of academia so my role is subject to a lot of criticism and turnover.
For my first 6 years I've struggled with my position often facing budget cuts, restructuring, and have been criticized both personally (for my clothes and out of work interests) and for my professional decisions. I felt discouraged & hated in what was supposed to be my forever home. It really took it's toll both psychologically and emotionally.
This year by luck and just things working out I've been able to produce amazing results (I don't even understand how) but I was able to impress everyone and even used this new found appreciation to flirt with other similar positions and guess what?
I managed to get offered a new 5 year (guaranteed) contract and now my plan is to do as little as possible for how bad I was treated. I don't feel like people understand how bad I was made to feel and I'm not going to pretend like everything is fine.
I plan to continue to march to my own drummer when it comes to fashion choices and outside of work interests.