Drug through the mud?

Or is it "dragged through the mud"? While I was a graduate student a professor of mine made that statement with respect to the academic tenure process. Actually he said it was like getting dragged naked through the streets in the mud. Surprisingly, he left the university before actually going through tenure - perhaps he didn't want to go through that, or maybe he just decided it wasn't worth it after all, or maybe something better simply came up. I don't know.

But, a dozen years later I find myself disrobed and muddy after completing, just this evening, the final assembly of all of my materials. It is not all that dissatisfying though, and not nearly as painful as I was led to believe. The key word there is believe. If you can look yourself in the mirror each morning, and can honestly say you have acted on what you believe - then that is all you can really do. 6 years ago I left a fair amount of money on the table to return to academia for one more shot. But I told myself that I was going to impact academia with what I believe - that we do not prepare our students for industry, that we are too often self-serving, and that the individualistic approach in academia has long been disproven by all types of communities that are far more efficient. I enjoyed assembling my P and T packet because it reminded me that while I have not built the highest and whitest ivory tower for all to see, I have acted true to the values that I still hold dear. And if academia doesn't want me after that, well, ... their loss.