A native of Hannawa Falls, NY, and graduate of The Clarkson School, Sal Cania '07 is a global studies major and a leader in Amnesty International’s campus chapter. He lives in International House. St. Lawrence has international study programs in 14 countries: Australia Austria Canada China Costa Rica Denmark England France India Italy Japan Kenya Spain Trinidad & Tobago St. Lawrence is also a member of the International Student Exchange Program, allowing the possibility of study in any of dozens of nations. For details on St. Lawrence’s international study programs, go to www.stlawu.edu/ciis/

Bon Voyage!
Look for a college with international study programs – as explained below, going on one of those will be a real eye-opener.

By Sal Cania ‘07

The France program at St. Lawrence was one of the most life-changing and worthwhile experiences I’ve ever had. Typically, in order to go abroad, a student needs to have spent at least one year on campus, but this particular spring-semester program in France is open to first-year students, and that’s when I participated.  

I was interested in going primarily because the program offered several excursions from our home base in Rouen, Normandy. Following a two-week language orientation in Quebec City, we established ourselves in Rouen.  But we did not spend our entire time there -- we also went to Caen, Bretagne, and my favorite, Senegal as representative of a former French colony. In Senegal my eyes were opened to the reality of the world outside our own safe, predictable universe in the West. I saw desperate poverty coupled strangely with a sense of joy in the people that I met there.  

Both in France and in Senegal, our group of St. Lawrence students stayed with local families, who gave us a perspective on our surroundings that simply wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. We learned local traditions, culture, music and, the best part, food!  

In addition to course work and academically and culturally oriented field trips, we were given considerable freedom to explore on our own. Rouen is an historic city (think Joan of Arc) north of Paris, and while that might not sound particularly interesting, there were seemingly unlimited places to see and enjoy right there. In Rouen you could find Turkish, English, German, Italian, Chinese and Spanish food, all authentic. The nightlife was great as well. I didn’t spend a single weekend bored and staring out my window.  

I brought my bike to France, and even though it was a hassle at the airports, everyone was very accommodating and when I got out of the city, the countryside was truly spectacular. The French have adapted to cyclists on their roads unlike Americans, so it was like a dream for me to ride on sunny, quiet country roads without any problems from motorists. I even met a few French cyclists and stumbled through broken conversations with them about the Tour de France.  

Finally, the most important element of spending time abroad at St. Lawrence is the homestay experience. My host family in France treated me as one of their own. They taught me how to ski in the Alps and drove me around Normandy in their new Peugeot. With their help I was even able to travel to Venice! I learned more from my host family about French culture and lifestyle than I did in the classroom -- and that’s the greatest part about studying abroad.