The Voice

Under the wire In 2008, I found myself newly graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University, a semester earlier than the traditional four-year experience, mostly friendless, and tired of binging Netflix alone on my newly purchased adult couch. Growing up in Byron, I had known the commercial side of Rockford — Target, Kohl’s, AMC — but I…

Where are we going? As four travel companions and I piled into a minivan outside our rented home on the big island of Hawaii, we happily chatted about our morning spent snorkeling, getting fitted for gear at the surf shop, and gliding among the corral at Captain Cook Bay. After a glorious day on the…