Emma Kahle

Written for my bi-weekly column “An Occasional Word” in The St. Lawrence Plaindealer, a printed newspaper serving the Canton, New York Community.

I’m not quite sure what it was, but I started tearing up driving through Canton for the first time since returning from studying abroad. Maybe it was the St. Lawrence University quad, surrounded by evergreen trees dressed in Christmas lights, or seeing Richardson Hall, the English building where I take most of my classes as an English-major. Or perhaps it was simply the lit-up red and blue Price Chopper logo (that I recently learned was an axe cutting into a coin). 

I studied abroad in the Czech Republic during the fall semester. I called Prague my home for four months, exploring the city and getting to travel across Europe. In Italy, I ventured to Venice, Florence and Rome, eating more pasta than humanly possible and frolicking through wine vineyards in Tuscany. In Athens, I went to rooftop bars and the Acropolis – in that order – and swam in the Mediterranean Sea, where you can float on your back effortlessly because the water has a higher density than the Atlantic Ocean. Other adventures included trips to Germany, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Spain, and Denmark. And as much fun as it was, I never dreaded the day I’d return to campus. Of course, I was upset about leaving the life I made for myself in Prague – people from colleges around the U.S., Czech locals I met at squash lessons, and local cafe owners who would grin at my attempts to order in Czech. “Dám sí rohlik a cappuccino prosím?” 

There is something about Canton. The joy of running along the trails to the Grasse River beach on a warm day; going to the County Seat for dinner with friends; exploring shops and talking to small business owners at the farmers market; walking with my sorority sisters to the ice cream shop down the street on a warm fall night; or even just grabbing Indian Express takeout after practice to satisfy a craving for their delicious naan bread. 

One of my biggest concerns coming to college here was the town. Everyone told me the SLU campus was in the middle of nowhere, but that is far from the truth. Sure, Canton is different from the bustling suburb I grew up in outside New York City.  And sometimes when the weather hits negative temperatures I daydream about going to college at a southern school, where girls wear floral dresses and joyfully frolic to class under skies that stay 50 or 60 degrees in the winter. But these visions are just that– fleeting ideas that could never replace my experience going to college in the North Country. 

“Ugh, the last thing I want to do is walk across campus right now, it’s freezing!” I laugh to a friend in the kitchen of my sorority house. I open the door and walk outside. The cold bites my nose as I zip up my parka and pull the fur hood over my head. Earlier complaints leave my head as I walk along a snowy brick path. I feel at home walking through campus or downtown during a snowstorm. Time stops in the winter wonderland and everything feels right.

There is something special about Canton.