Fifty years ago, I showed up as a freshman at PSTC. A girl from New York City, with pierced ears, loud music and as a minority – a Democrat and Jewish besides. It was a combination not often seen in St. Lawrence County in those days. I came because it was 400 miles away from home, in a part of the state that was unreachable by parents, because there was an all-male college in town and oh yes, the best music program I could ever have fallen into.

And more snow, for more time, than I ever could have imagined!

So what has kept me hanging around the North Country for so long? The names that are on so many of our buildings may only be names to many, but to me, they were real people who nurtured me, were amused by my style, pushed me hard to learn, and offered me the best of themselves.

Although I was a piano major, Crane Chorus became the core of my education. I made life-long friends with people from all parts of the state. That happens when you make music together for four years. I absorbed music literature that stays with me today and has informed my adult life.

Being a fledgling Democrat in Potsdam was a hoot! Traipsing around the campus with a donkey and banging on a drum to get out the vote (with a very few friends to help) and Ms. Hosmer shouting out the window, “Rita, that is not your instrument,” also allowed me to explore myself in a safe environment and helped to shape my professional life.

So, I come back often to help out, see old friends, look at the buildings with names on them and say thanks.