I started working at Michigan State University on the 15th of August, 1998. Today exactly 18 years later I bid MSU farewell to take up a new position as Associate Dean of Scholarship at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.
These last 18 years have been wonderful, both personally and professionally. MSU is where I came into my own as a scholar and researcher. Michigan was where we settled down and built a network of close friends and colleagues. My son was 2 when we moved here and my daughter was born a year later. He is today a junior at the other university in Michigan and she is a senior in high school. Wonderful years! Michigan State University (and the state of Michigan) have been home, intellectually, socially and personally.
I know for sure that a part of me will always be a Spartan, will always be a Michigander.
It is impossible to capture these past 18 years in a few words, so many wonderful memories created and so people, friends and colleagues, to thank, so I will not even try. I will just say, you know who you are, and know that I treasure all the wonderful times we had together. Thank you for being part of this journey. Know, also, that I will miss you.
… but also remember that these days we are all a click or a phone call away. So keep in touch.
Hello Punya,
Greetings from one of your many advisees! Hey, I just discovered here and now you left our beloved MSU when searching to double-check your email online! I actually wanted to email you to ask for your permissions to use a photo of you from your website for my book Come to the Edge. Your articles and your advice are still shared among my own students. You might not realize how you have influenced your students perspectives on life and how you impacted their real life. I just wanna say a big thank you here for now!
Shufang
Punya,
Thank you so much for visiting Madison School District’s back to school breakfast this week. Your presentation was wonderful, educational and inspiring. I am inclined to reach out to you not only because you have some great insight into education but your connection to MSU. I graduated from MSU in 2012 and moved to Arizona that fall to teach Kindergarten. I have a love for teaching and of course a love for the Spartan spirit. Thank you again for joining Madison and inspiring teachers to be innovative.
Dear Amanda, thank you for your kind words and for stopping by my website. Always great to meet a fellow Spartan (hard to give up that title even though I have switched jobs now).