Nicholas R. Stroup, Incoming Assistant Professor, at Ohio University. To borrow an admissions essay trope, I need to tell you what it is like to write this piece you are reading. I am typing this in a small regional airport, taking a self-funded professional development trip between the end of graduate school and the start of a faculty position. The packet of COBRA health care information arrived just before I left today, and I have been trying to understand how it will work in tandem with the Affordable Care Act and Medicare benefits in my current state of residence and the state where I will soon move. I have a doctorate, have work experience in human resources, and yet this process still feels quite complex. It is clear I am about to rack up more debt from health insurance, moving, and other surprise expenses in these summer months than I did during my entire PhD program. I share this because it is not entirely unexpected. While my trajectory may not be representative of most wi