Harvard University

Stein, my favorite tree near Michigan State University’s library, was truly alive. With his arms outstretched, he reached beyond the plane of his body and cradled all the life around him. Resting in those powerful yet docile branches holds a solid position as the most peaceful, reflective moment of that summer. There, I felt like a detached observer, watching spiders as they weaved through the bark, birds as they chirped to one another, and squirrels as they jumped from branch to branch as if they were traversing into a different region of their world. That’s exactly what Stein was - a world…