Six months ago, I made a decision that surprised nearly everyone, including myself: I decided to “leave” academia. I had just started the third year of a prestigious post-doctoral fellowship. I had just published my fifteenth first-author paper (an impressive feat by any metric). I had won two dissertation awards and an early career grant. After ten years of hard work (and a lot of luck), I was poised to be a front-runner in the academic job market.

However, I wasn't happy. I was tired of constantly moving and living away from my family. I was tired of academic politics and hustle culture. I was tired of seeing my depression and anxiety worsen year after year. So I decided to make a career change and search for employment outside academia. During this search, I began to grapple with a new question: if I am not an academic, then who am…