As summer (thankfully) approaches quickly, I am beyond excited to be back in the Midwest at home in Michigan. After spending two years on the East Coast, specifically in Vermont, I have to come to realize that Michigan is very much a forgotten state. If it is remembered or known, the entire state is represented by simply Ann Arbor, which could not be more of a false representation of the state as a whole. Michigan is an incredibly diverse state, with rural farm lands to mountains up north and countless lakes (not to mention the Great Lakes). Those are only a few of many amazing features.
As a state we also are diverse in people, from the east side to the west side and the south to the north, the people are vastly different. The east side is very much like the east coast and is not like the west side. Our jargon differs in many areas and the people tend to be originally from the east coast so the customs differ. The west side is more typical and contains my hometown, Kalamazoo! The UP is a whole different aspect of Michigan. It is so different than the south in that they have incredibly strong accents and say words very very different than we do in the south of the state but they have some of the most beautiful landscape that one could imagine.
However, as a whole, Michigan is a state full of great people (duh!), amazing landscapes and rich history. Nothing makes me sadder to hear that people don’t know much about Michigan but more so where it is! That does boggle my mind because it is one of the most distinct states in the U.S., outlined by 5 great lakes and shaped like a mitten! It also makes me sad to know that people have no interest in visiting Michigan because their skewed view on the Midwest. I used to be one of them though. I used to hate Michigan and thought that it had nothing to offer! The Midwest was just farmland and had nothing to me when I was younger. The East Coast has NYC so it has everything, or so I thought. Then I came to UVM and my love for Michigan grew immensely. While I love the East Coast, I am beyond eager to get back to the mitten where I can say “pop” and “sucker” with no funny faces in return, and explore more of my beautiful state, because there is SO much I still haven’t experienced or seen, even after 20 years.