Dangling Modifiers

The dangling modifier, a persistent and frequent grammatical problem in writing, is often (though not always) located at the beginning of a sentence. A dangling modifier is usually a phrase or an elliptical clause -- a dependent clause whose subject and verb are implied rather than expressed -- that functions as an adjective but does not modify any specific word in the sentence, or (worse) modifies the wrong word. Consider the following example:

Raised in Nova Scotia, it is natural to miss the smell of the sea.

The introductory phrase in the above sentence looks as if it is meant to modify a person or persons, but no one is mentioned in the sentence. Such introductory adjective phrases, because of their position, automatically modify the first noun or pronoun that follows the phrase -- in this case, "it." The connection in this case is illogical because "it" was not raised in Nova Scotia. You could revise the sentence in a number of ways:

Raised in Nova Scotia, I often miss the smell of the sea. (the phrase functions as an adjective but now automatically modifies "I," a logical connection)

For a person raised in Nova Scotia, it is natural to miss the smell of the sea. (the phrase no longer functions as an adjective)

the phrase no longer fxns as an adj bcs it has its own subject.
ok that's what I was confusing myself about.
if the dependent clause has an (explicit) subject, that subject does not need to be the same as the the subject of the sentence.
useful to note that dependent clauses can have a subject "For a person raised in Nova Scotia" or not "Raised in Nova Scotia", and the latter is a subcategory of dependent clauses called elliptical clauses. good name.
some but not all dependent clauses are elliptical clauses. gotcha.
so rg's "While it was difficult, I found the challenge motivating." is fine. it =neednt= I.