The author was hired in the 1995-1996 academic year at the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) in the Department of English. Her position was funded as a direct hire--one of two Alaska Native professors hired as part of a diversity directive to increase the number of minority professors on campus, and more specifically Alaska Natives. Alaska Natives overall comprise about 20 percent of the state's population. At UAA Alaska Natives and American Indians make up about 12-15 percent of the student population, including tribal groups from all over the state--Yup'ik, Inupiaq, Athabascan, Aleut, Alutiq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tshimshian--and the university itself is built upon land originally owned by the Dena'ina Athabascan. Since they were directly hired in 1995, they have remained the only full-time Alaska Native faculty hired for academic tenure-track positions at UAA. Two years ago, the author received tenure and promotion and was relieved that the following year she would be able to serve on one of the committees that passed judgment on the tenure file of her colleague, who is now also a tenured associate professor. As the author looks back, she realizes that there was much she could have done more effectively and more efficiently, and she is trying to slowly incorporate some of these lessons into the next phase of her university work. In this article, the author tells part of her own story, and she hopes through telling it to enable others to think about their own situation in light of the issues she has encountered.