{"id":11160,"date":"2023-02-13T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=11160"},"modified":"2023-02-10T11:37:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T16:37:49","slug":"by-chance-and-by-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2023\/02\/13\/by-chance-and-by-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"By Chance and By Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Change.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it comes when you realize your long-term career doesn\u2019t bring you the same great zest for life it once did. Or a health scare forces you to reevaluate the way you live your life. In the following stories shared by alumni, these moments don\u2019t serve as interruptions \u2014 rather, they\u2019re the introductions to new chapters. 
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Giving Thanks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to her career, Ellen Bissett \u201993 DeRiggi isn\u2019t one to watch paint dry. Thankfully, there\u2019s already some great wallpaper at the White House Inn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the grand hallway of the Greek Revival-style mansion in Wilmington, Vt., that wallpaper has welcomed guests since the inn\u2019s infancy, more than 100 years ago. It\u2019s so central to the building\u2019s long history, new owner DeRiggi centered the hotel\u2019s recent renovation around the wallpaper\u2019s pastoral 18th-century scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s something really charming about this inn that draws people in,\u201d says Ellen Bissett \u201993 DeRiggi, owner of the White House Inn in Wilmington, Vt. She bought the business after enjoying family vacations there. Photo by Michael Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

DeRiggi, a longtime resident of Long Island, had been traveling to southern Vermont with her children for years, enjoying skiing expeditions during their cozy winter vacations. One annual tradition that was never missed: Thanksgiving at the White House Inn. Sitting atop a hill overlooking the Deerfield Valley, the hotel is renowned for its detailed architecture and historical features including a bank vault, original built-in telephones, hidden staircases, numerous fireplaces, and antique woodwork. There\u2019s even rumored to be a resident ghost floating through the posh hallways. \u201cThere\u2019s something really charming about this inn that draws people in,\u201d DeRiggi says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the force of the place is what drew her in. At a moment of sweet serendipity, DeRiggi found herself back at the White House Inn in December 2021 \u2014 this time, as its owner. The tale reads like the plot of a Hallmark movie. During the COVID-19 lockdown, a busy, big-city lawyer began researching real estate listings, dreaming of owning a historic inn in a snow-covered, quaint country village. Then, she learned that the sprawling white mansion was recently in foreclosure and was listed for sale. It\u2019s where she spent so many special times \u2014 wouldn\u2019t it be so nice to go back to those days?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With her brother-in-law, DeRiggi decided to take the leap and buy the property. \u201cProbably a lot of [my family and friends] think I\u2019m crazy and really don\u2019t have the nerve to tell me to my face,\u201d DeRiggi laughs. \u201cI never would\u2019ve thought in a million years that this would be something that I would\u2019ve done. I feel that it was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s safe to say, Thanksgiving this year will be at the White House Inn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Michael Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The White House Inn was built<\/strong> in 1915 and offers 18 guestrooms. It sits on a 20-acre property in Wilmington, Vt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inn\u2019s restaurant<\/strong>, Clara\u2019s Cucina Italiana, is named after the original woman of the house, Clara Brown. She\u2019s said to still haunt the hotel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Property management<\/strong> isn\u2019t new<\/strong> to DeRiggi. Though the inn was her first big purchase, she previously worked in her family business, overseeing the Long Island Aquarium and a Hyatt Place Hotel, and is also part owner of the Fire Island Beach House, a beach resort property on Fire Island, N.Y. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renovating the hotel<\/strong> is a long-term process. \u201cAfter years of neglect, there has been a lot of work to do to restore the property to its former glory,\u201d DeRiggi says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wallpaper<\/strong>, created by the French company Zuber et Cie, is hand-painted from 19th-century wooden blocks.

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\u2018It\u2019s All Dovetailing\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the late \u201990s, Patrick Bobst \u201984 was living in Charlottesville, Va., working in software development, when an electric little thought bolted through his mind. What if I went into social work? He\u2019d always been a people person, the man jumping at the chance to help others through tough situations at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a career in IT, Patrick Bobst ’84 decided to pivot to
mental health counseling. Photo by Andre Chung<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bobst became enamored with the idea: \u201cI went so far as to go talk to some people at James Madison University, which is about an hour and a half away from me,\u201d he remembers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the way his nuclear family unit was structured, in which he acted as the breadwinner with his wife as homemaker, Bobst was apprehensive to make a move. The financial element of the deal was paramount in the final decision: He\u2019d have to shell out approximately $50,000 (nearly $100,000 in today\u2019s money) for tuition, along with taking a significant pay cut. \u201cIt seemed untenable,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bobst set the idea aside and carried on with his life, which looked like this: After graduating with a computer science degree from Colgate, Bobst began working in information technology as a coder. He enjoyed the puzzle-solving aspect of his job, relishing getting called in to take corrective action when a piece of technology went wonky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to 2017: Bobst\u2019s company, Retrieval Systems Inc., had just been acquired by a private equity firm, which outsourced the business\u2019 work. After the sale, Bobst, who had worked his way up to a management position, was tasked with getting the outsource team up and running \u2014 he enjoyed the personable aspects of the merger, like building new relationships and implementing new mechanisms to increase company success. But the merger also came with significant pressure to \u201ccut cost to the bone without disrupting service,\u201d he remembers. \u201cIt was just brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bobst stuck it out for a few years, while his children went off to college and he underwent an unexpected divorce. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he looked around to find himself alone. But, sometimes, loneliness breeds opportunity. He felt a thought prickle in the back of his mind: The structure of his life had changed, so why couldn\u2019t his career?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Next year, Bobst will graduate with his master\u2019s in mental health counseling. He\u2019s currently completing his internship at Empowerment Therapy Center, rotating through cases from teenagers to the elderly. After graduation, he\u2019d like to focus on people like the previous version of himself: \u201cpeople going through the corporate grind.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He felt a thought prickle in the back of his mind: The structure of his life had changed, so why couldn\u2019t his career?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A series of events had to happen for Bobst to be in this position, and he says he\u2019s thankful to be providing mental health resources in an era with so many challenges. \u201cIt\u2019s all dovetailing,\u201d he says of the timing. \u201cI can\u2019t overstate how important it feels to give back, particularly in these days.\u201d 

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The Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The voices had become too loud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shock jocks had taken over the radio waves, producing content that was often sexually explicit or more generally indecent. \u201cThere was a lot of the residual or ancillary Howard Stern effect, which is \u2018How outrageous can you be in order to get people to tune in, to listen, to stay listening?\u2019\u201d Chuck Dickemann \u201978 says of radio in the early \u201990s. As someone who\u2019d spent decades in the industry \u2014 spanning music, sports, and news, both on and off the air \u2014 some of the best moments in Dickemann\u2019s life happened because he worked in radio. To him, it was a place to introduce new, eclectic music to listeners, or give them access to the final seconds of a raucous sporting event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he realized that shock jocks, who chose to spend their time on-air telling off-color jokes, were there to stay, he reached a tipping point. The way the industry was moving wasn\u2019t an example he wanted to model for his grade school\u2013aged children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sat at the dinner table across from his wife after work one evening. \u201cLeslie, I can\u2019t do it,\u201d he told her. \u201cI can\u2019t go to work every day and encourage these people to be outrageous and stop just short of setting somebody\u2019s hair on fire, then come home and with you raise two boys to be something other than what I\u2019m doing during the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m living two lives, and I can\u2019t do that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two roads had diverged: \u201cI keep coming back to the most important part of that journey,\u201d Dickemann says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For Chuck Dickemann ’78, faith was a catalyst for change in his life. \u201cIt turned out I had to rely on my faith in the Lord,” he says. Photo by Andre Chung<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pause for a commercial break: <\/strong>Dickemann\u2019s road to radio started in the basement of the Kendrick-Eaton-Dodge complex, then-home of WRCU. At that time, the radio station\u2019s focus had shifted mainly to music, and Dickemann played \u201cnew medium rock\u201d and \u201cpopular flavor\u201d during his show. \u201cFrom high school, I was enthralled with the broadcast industry and spent most of my free time at Colgate in the WRCU studios,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, Dickemann spent a decade on-air at radio stations around the country, like WASH-FM in Washington, D.C., and WWYZ-FM in Hartford, Conn. At the same time, he honed his talents as a program director, managing the on-air staff and fine-tuning the stations\u2019 musical content \u2014 an area in which he\u2019d later focus his career. The Colgate psychology major eventually transitioned to a full-time management role and married his wife, a programming assistant and co-worker at a D.C.-based nostalgia radio station. Then, Dickemann took an assistant program director job at news station WBZ in Boston. \u201cThat was really the first change; it was just a difference in format. I had left the music part behind and gotten into news and talk [radio].\u201d Then, a host of cities: Pittsburgh, Houston, Minneapolis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to our regularly scheduled programming: <\/strong>\u201cI started sending out r\u00e9sum\u00e9s like crazy,\u201d says Dickemann, 120 to be exact. He was looking for a natural leap \u2014 a job in media. The couple also wanted to move back home to Virginia, so they could be close to their parents while raising their boys. The job market was tough, though, and no one was biting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to turn this over to the Lord,\u201d thought Dickemann, who is a devout Christian. He and his wife prayed daily, asking for additional prayers from members of their Minneapolis congregation. Within 14 days, his prayers were answered. Dickemann had an offer from a company that developed software to create advertising placements in audio and video streaming. It was the early days of platforms like Pandora, which relied on ad revenue to steam free music for users. In short, he\u2019d landed a role in a booming field. The credit, he says, goes to God. \u201cIt turned out I had to rely on my faith in the Lord \u2026 once I did that, all these things started falling into place one after another, after another, after another,\u201d Dickemann says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credits: <\/strong>Dickemann has since moved on from that job and now works as a project manager for the federal government, managing technology changes for agencies like the TSA. He took the position after a brief try at retirement. But before he accepted the post, he had a conversation with God. He does so before any big change: \u201cI just say, \u2018I don\u2019t know how this is going to pan out, but I know you have a plan.\u2019\u201d

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The Rest Is History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Genevieve Kocienda \u201986 wants you to know that the archives at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School aren\u2019t in some dusty old closet. \u201cIt\u2019s not some sort of sanctum sanctorum<\/em> where no one is allowed in, either,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 223-year history is kept in the institution\u2019s expansive collection space, and with Kocienda at the helm, the door is always open. Objects within the institution\u2019s collections contain a window into the school\u2019s past: photographs of women students conducting a science experiment in a 1960s lab, 19th-century needlepoint, and documentation about people enslaved during the organization\u2019s history. As the school archivist and someone who believes in hands-on learning, Kocienda tries each day to entice students to enter the archives \u201cand delve into the school\u2019s long and important history,\u201d she says. Kocienda is the sole archivist at the school, a role referred to in the archives field as a \u201clone arranger,\u201d and is responsible for a host of duties. Among them: accessioning new donations; organizing, preserving, and cataloging existing collections; creating exhibits about the school\u2019s history; and engaging the interest of students, faculty, staff, alumnae, and independent researchers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kocienda thought back to times in her life when she\u2019d found the courage to make a change. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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When freelance work began bleeding into her personal life, Genevieve Kocienda ’86 decided to pursue a career she’d put on the back burner many years before. Photo by Andre Chung<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 In addition to her regular archival duties and providing instruction in the archives, Kocienda contributes to an ongoing project documenting the history of enslaved people at Georgetown Visitation. For her part, Kocienda is helping to identify archival records that will be used in creating a curriculum for students about the subject. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of grappling with that history,\u201d she says. She\u2019s also led the charge to digitize ledgers detailing the buying and selling of enslaved people by the school, both for transparency\u2019s sake, and so they\u2019re easily available for researchers. \u201cArchives must tell everyone\u2019s story with as much honesty and accuracy as possible,\u201d Kocienda notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years ago, her life looked more like this: Seated at a desk in her East Greenwich, R.I., home, Kocienda tap tap tapped away on her keyboard. She was on deadline for yet another short-term freelance project, her umpteenth in the last 16 years. Writing and editing educational materials for publishers was once her passion, but the hustle of participating in the gig economy had taken away the autonomy she had over her time. She often juggled five projects at once and had to cancel long-awaited vacations to meet updated deadlines. \u201cA lot of times that [meant] putting my own life aside, and that got really old,\u201d Kocienda remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kocienda thought back to times in her life when she\u2019d found the courage to make a change. There was the time she flew to Japan on a Colgate study group, then stayed and taught ESL because she wanted something different from her life in the States. There was the grind of going to culinary school at night, followed by working long hours at the four-star Tribeca restaurant Chanterelle as a pastry chef, to shift out of her daytime editing job at Oxford University Press. There was earning her master\u2019s in anthropology from SUNY Buffalo, to give herself the chance to move careers if she desired. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, then, there was that one change she skipped, back in 1991.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother saw an ad in the New York Times<\/em> for an NYU one-year master\u2019s program for information science, which was a newish field at that time,\u201d Kocienda remembers. \u201cShe said, \u2018I think this is what you should do.\u2019\u201d The thought of slogging through more lengthy research papers and acquiring more debt made Kocienda groan. Without hesitation, she told her mother it wasn\u2019t in the cards. Knowingly, her mother said, \u201cWell, I think this is the future\u2026\u201d Kocienda shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as fate would have it, it\u2019d be her future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought I was too old to start yet another career, but as my husband said, \u2018You\u2019re going to turn 54 no matter what you do, you might as well bet on yourself,\u2019\u201d Kocienda remembers. So, in 2019, Kocienda got up from her keyboard and attended the University of Maryland\u2019s master\u2019s program in library and information science. She graduated in 2021 after completing an internship at the Library of Congress and an archives field study at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. Though it looked like a 180-degree turn from the outside, it was just another example of a time when Kocienda took a chance on herself. Looking back, \u201cI\u2019ve [had] a lot of transformation,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Authentication Successful<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The responsibilities of life can become heavy and can hinder us from being truly authentic,\u201d says Jennifer Braak \u201986 Salem. It was that realization that led her on the ultimate journey: traveling the country in her Winnebago Solis Pocket \u2014 a 17-foot camper van \u2014 hoping to tap into her deepest self. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like many people, 2020 was a difficult year for Salem, but the years following proved to be even more strenuous. After nearly 28 years of marriage, she and her husband divorced, and they sold their large family home. Then, in early 2022, she underwent two spinal surgeries, including a spinal fusion. After recovery, she looked around: Her children had begun their adult lives, one attending medical school and the other planning a wedding. She was alone for the first time in a long time, thinking about the last time she flew solo: \u201cI traveled by myself for a month while on my junior year study abroad and took other camping and European trips by myself,\u201d she says. \u201cI used to be independent and brave.\u201d A voice inside told her she could do it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWhat am I waiting for?\u201d she asked herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sept. 7, 2022, after terminating her rental lease, downsizing her belongings and putting everything else into storage, and loaning her Subaru to her daughter, she set out on the open road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFor a California girl, this landscape is why I wanted to come to the southeastern seaboard,” says Salem.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why an RV van? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople hit the road for so many different reasons,\u201d Salem says. For her, she wanted to see parts of the country on her bucket list (such as the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.). Additionally, she says she never felt like she fit in with her local community, which made leaving easier. She\u2019d done a four-week national park road trip a few years prior, sleeping in a tent, so she felt comfortable traveling long distances alone. Her small van allows her easy access to cities and standard parking spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En Route<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Salem started out traveling north along the California and Oregon coasts. She then headed to the East Coast to see the southeastern seaboard and is now traveling along the southern seaboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Specs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her Winnebago, which is shorter than a Chevy Suburban, Salem lives with the bare necessities \u2014 sometimes people are surprised at how \u201chome-like\u201d her setup is, she says. \u201cInterestingly, women especially seem to be hung up on there not being a bathroom in the van,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI do have a bucket toilet with a comfortable seat that hides away in a cabinet.\u201d She has both an indoor and outdoor stove to heat up water for food, drinks, and washing her face; most campgrounds have bathrooms with showers. Her electrical and solar setup are also key: She works remotely full-time as the director of research at a nonprofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For My Mom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The van\u2019s name is Annie, after Salem\u2019s mother. \u201cShe worked so hard with plans of retiring at 65 and traveling, and she got a cancer diagnosis soon after her 64th birthday and died four months later,\u201d Salem says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say \u2018What if.\u2019\u201d

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How a Broken Leg and a Broken Brain Became a Beautiful Book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Michelle Cohen \u201915<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April of my freshman year, I suddenly went from being healthy one day to hospitalized the next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to what doctors called a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of estrogen-based birth control, two genetic abnormalities I didn\u2019t know about (May-Thurner syndrome and antiphospholipid syndrome), and an injury from falling down at Bellydancing Club, I developed a blood clot extending from my left knee to my hip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Saverio Truglia <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I was transported via ambulance from Community Memorial Hospital to Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. There, I spent five days undergoing three awake surgical procedures to remove the clot, fix my venous deformity, and restore blood flow to the bottom half of my leg \u2014 especially my foot, which didn\u2019t have a pulse when I first arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as I was out of the ICU and the danger to my life had passed, I prepared to return to Colgate. I had several new medical concerns \u2014 I was now required to take blood thinning medication for the rest of my life to prevent future clots, and because all three procedures took place in an incision at the back of my knee, bending my knee was excruciatingly painful and I couldn\u2019t walk well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I returned to campus, I experienced Colgate\u2019s encompassing kindness. My professors didn\u2019t just offer me extensions on papers \u2014 they also gave me extra time to get to class and makeup sessions for the work I\u2019d missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Merrill Miller called me daily to dose my blood thinners, and she offered advice and resources to my family back in Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campus police officers drove me up and down the hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c…suddenly, the memories I\u2019d tried to forget overwhelmed me. I could hardly eat, sleep, or do anything other than relive what had happened.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At an ice cream social where everyone was supposed to only get one scoop, a volunteer saw me limping and gave me three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as my knee healed, I became determined to put this all behind me. But what I didn\u2019t know is that \u2014 as per a 2021 study from the National Blood Clot Association \u2014 80% of surveyed blood clot survivors logged symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with 77% of respondents reporting moderate, moderately high, or high severity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until my junior year, I was able to repress the trauma of the week when my health changed so drastically, but suddenly, the memories I\u2019d tried to forget overwhelmed me. I could hardly eat, sleep, or do anything other than relive what had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t help that I had been battling obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since I was diagnosed at age 3. Combined with the more recent trauma, it was now creating an acute state of distress that therapy and medication weren\u2019t fixing. I tried explaining this to others, but people did not understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My professors didn\u2019t know whether to give me extensions for daily panic attacks. I was kicked off the board of my favorite student club for \u201ccalling my psychiatrist too often\u201d and \u201cnot being fun enough.\u201d And aside from my best friend, my peers distanced themselves from me when I was hurting so badly that I began to experience intrusive thoughts telling me that death was the only way to escape this level of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was confused why people were willing to help when I experienced a physical illness, but when I experienced a flare-up of a mental illness \u2014 that was no less life threatening \u2014 I felt alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t need people to help me walk to class, but I did need my best friend to sit beside me on the floor of my room in Cushman House and encourage me to eat a bowl of Rice Krispies one by one when I hadn\u2019t had an appetite for days due to panic attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on my study group in Washington, D.C., I underwent intensive cognitive behavioral therapy and started a new medicine that helped me regain control of my thoughts and my life \u2014 but I couldn\u2019t help but feel that there was still something missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I returned to Colgate for my senior year, I became determined to address the problem I experienced: between the stigma of mental illness and a lack of education, people were afraid of things they didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I was deep in my mental health crisis, I didn\u2019t know how to explain that suicidal ideation is not about wanting to die, it\u2019s about wanting to not live in that kind of pain and not knowing how to feel better. I didn\u2019t know how to explain that I felt afraid of my own thoughts \u2014 even though I never wanted or planned to hurt anyone \u2014 and had to constantly repeat the mantra \u201cthoughts are thoughts, not threats.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, when it became time to write my thesis for my English major, I wanted to create stories that opened windows into the lives of people living with mental illness. I started with fiction and fantasy, and, after several years, I was willing to share my own journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years ago, I became the head blogger of No Shame On U, a Chicago-based organization working to destigmatize mental illness and make it more understandable to the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In weekly posts, I write about milestones like the party I had this year to celebrate 10 years clot-free and eight years in trauma recovery, and also how OCD influences everyday activities like going to work, eating in restaurants, and making friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, I started speaking publicly about my experiences and writing articles for organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Blood Clot Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And most importantly, I\u2019ve found a way to combine my lifelong dream of publishing a book with the advocacy that\u2019s become so important to me. My Colgate experience is a turning point in I Eat French Fries With a Fork: OCD, DVT, and learning to love myself, letters and all<\/em>. While I search for a publisher, I hope that one day, I can bring my work to the place that transformed me so greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who fought so hard to live from both physical and mental illnesses during my time at Colgate, it is one of my deepest desires to return to the place where everything started and offer hope to students embroiled in their own fights.
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Cohen runs a Facebook page for OCD advocacy called I Eat French Fries With a Fork. 
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Reader Reflection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Entering Colgate in the fall of 2006, I didn\u2019t possess much in the way of a Jewish identity. I knew the blessing to say over the menorah at Hanukkah and I knew the Four Questions for Passover, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. One of the first weeks at school, two of my suitemates in Andrews were going to the Saperstein Center for a Shabbat dinner and asked if I wanted to join. I figured if nothing else, it would be a nice break from a dinner at Frank so I tagged along. I sat through my first ever Friday night service, had some home cooked food, mingled with a few upperclassmen I hadn\u2019t met before, and met Rabbi Dave Levy, who proceeded to change the trajectory of my entire life. From that dinner on, I was hooked. I started attending more events at \u201cThe Sap,\u201d went on the Colgate Birthright trip in May 2007, started studying Hebrew with Anat Glick in the fall of 2007, declared a Jewish studies minor in 2008, and then moved to Israel after I graduated in 2010.  12 years later, I am married to an Israeli, and I am an Israeli citizen myself (and so are our two children, one of whom was born while we were living in Tel Aviv). We regularly visit Israel from our current home in Chicago and plan to make a permanent move back to Israel soon.  
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Rebecca Koren \u201910
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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