By TESSA PANETH-POLLAK
The first time she heard of a dragon, Lilah Cray was 17 years old.
While being religiously homeschooled in an insular Christian community in west Michigan, she was allowed to read one book, the Bible, and watch one cartoon, “Veggie Tales.”
But enrolling at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor “changed everything,” she said. Early on during her time there, she met a guy named Cody who was playing Magic: The Gathering.
Cody showed her that dragon — and then the ropes of Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons and other games.
Soon, Cray joined the anime club. It opened her up to realms of fantasy and imagination that had been banished from her childhood. It opened her up culturally, too: She got her first taste of ramen.
“I think (anime club) was the most communication I’d ever had with…
