Leaving New York and Finding Myself

I said yes to Michigan three decades ago and have never regretted it.



That's not what you'd expect a native New Yorker to say, but I fell in love with the state within days of arriving to start a PhD at Michigan State University. I came in the spring and the campus was unbelievably lush and beautiful. But better than that, within weeks, a new friend and I were driving north to the Upper Peninsula.



I crossed the Mackinac Bridge at sunset and the icy water and the snow everywhere in sight turne...