Alumna, MSU students inspire each other to live “hope-rich” life of recovery and sobriety

<p>She's also open about being sober and how her ongoing recovery has transformed her life from, as she says, a stark soul-sick place to one rich with friends and activities she loves to do like reading by the lake on a Michigan summer day, supporting working women in any way she can, and connecting with college students and young adults who have courageously found their way to recovery.</p><p><a href="https://susanpackard.com">Susan</a> was both <a href="https://www.wkar.org/msu-today/2019-10-01/msu-alumna-helps-people-find-their-purpose">Homecoming Grand Marshal</a> and an MSU Commencement speaker in 2019. She has bachelor’s and master's degrees in advertising and public relations from MSU. She's also a prolific author, and her latest book is titled <a href="https://susanpackard.com/the-little-book-of-college-sobriety/"><em>The Little Book of College Sobriety</em></a>. </p><p>Susan tells why she chose MSU for college and describes how MSU prepared her for her career. And she talks about going from writing questionnaires to working at HBO then on to helping create some of America’s most-watched television channels. And she talks about her own path to sobriety.</p><p>“I'm one of those people who never had any real consequences from my alcohol use, but I was at a place of horrible loneliness and just feeling utterly alone. And it made no sense because I was happily married, starting a family, and had a great job. I didn't understand it.</p><p>“But what helped to numb it was many glasses of wine every night when I got home. I was in high stress roles. Alcohol really helped with that up until the point where it didn't anymore, it just stopped working. And then it was a very dark place and I realized that I needed to do something to help myself. And while I was at HGTV, I started that sort of slow, painful walk toward recovery.</p><p>“The book is called <em>The Little Book of College Sobriety: Living, Happy, Healthy, and Free</em>. There are 12 stories in the book, and they're from all over the country. I do