Yo, Can I Borrow Your Car?

 “Hey, it’s me,” says a deep voice from the hallway of Reiff.   

“Oh yeah, come on in. I’m just at my desk,” replies Ella, recognizing the speaker.   

Noah enters the door holding empty reusable shopping bags.

“Are you doing anything right now? I wanted to know if I could borrow your car to get some groceries, but if you need it, don’t worry about it,”

he lurks in the doorframe, ready to make a quick escape.   

“Oh yeah, of course, no problem! You know where my keys are, so go ahead and grab them,” Ella returns to her homework assignment on her laptop.   

This is normal for Ella and Noah. He knows that. If he just asks, he can borrow Ella’s navy blue Subaru to run errands as needed. She does not have a problem lending out her car to her close friends, so much as they return it to F Lot in one piece.   

Keys in hand, Noah walks the short distance from Reiff to F Lot. He paces up and down the lot to find where the car was last parked. The clicking of the car lock is the only hint Noah gets. Finally, after finding the car, he readjusts the seat to fit his long legs and moves the rearview mirror. As he plugs his phone into the aux cord, he starts to feel free.   

Life in the North Country comes with beautiful scenery, cold winters and geographical isolation. Canton is a small center of civilization, but to get to larger stores, restaurants and services, one would need to travel down Route 11 to either Potsdam or Watertown.   

The St. Lawrence County transportation department does offer public transportation buses and 17 routes throughout the county. There is not a specific route that goes through the St. Lawrence University campus, while the other three colleges in the area do have routes specific to their campuses. The lack of availability for SLU students to get off campus can sometimes feel limiting and trapping.  

“I do feel stuck on campus sometimes,” says Layne.

“I miss the times at home when I could just drive around my town to get a change of scenery.”

She does not have a car on campus this year, but she is planning on bringing one back in the fall.   

“If I want a ride, I usually just ask one of my friends if I can tag along with them or just ask them to pick something up for me,” she adds. “I feel weird borrowing a car that’s not mine because it feels unfamiliar and weird.” What feels “weird” for Layne is that she is not as comfortable driving a car that she does not have extensive previous experience with. Not knowing all the specifics about the car makes her anxious to drive other cars.   

Having a car at SLU obviously comes with added expenses, such as a parking permit and gas. Paying a fee of $125 gets SLU students a sticker decal that is to be placed on the inner windshield of their vehicle.   

Anyone can get a permit, so long as there is availability, and according to Tech Services Coordinator Crysta Corbett, “SLU has more than enough spots” to fit the needs of students. As of the Spring 2023 semester, there were 929 registered cars on campus across 20 parking lots.   

This semester, in particular, Corbett notes that there has been an increase in parking violations, especially in H Lot and B Lot. Those caught parked in the wrong lot will receive a $25 fine, and in the most extreme cases, enough parking violations could result in removing the car from campus. This rarely applies, as Corbett sees that students generally fix their violations in a timely manner.   

Another price point that is stressful to some students is the added insurance on their car. Emma admits that she can only have her car on campus so long as she does not let anyone else drive it. “My parents got me the car on the premise that I would promise to never lend it out to anyone, and if I did, I would have to bring the car back home and not have it on campus,” Emma says.   

Many parents and students alike worry about the insurance liabilities and risks that could occur if something bad happened to the car while an uninsured driver was behind the wheel. Emma also talks about how she can have control over her own car. By not lending out her car, she has full responsibility for what happens to it.   

“I definitely realized how inconvenient it is to not have a car up here when the Walgreens closed,” admits Matt while finishing his homework. “Going somewhere not immediately in Canton is annoying, and I have a car!”   

While Matt admits that having a car on campus is helpful for practical things like running errands, he also likes to have the freedom to go off campus.

“Sometimes I just need to blast some music and be by myself for a little bit,”

he says.   

And that is exactly what he does once a week to clear his head. He closes his laptop and puts away his printed readings. Next to his door are three Command hooks on the wall; on them are jackets and, most importantly, his car keys.   

Riders in his car are hit with a waft of black ice air freshener as they sit in the front seat. As the ignition starts, the radio blasts from the last time Matt and his friends made a McDonald’s run. The booming of the bass rattles the half-finished water bottles and Red Bull cans in the center console.   

Rolling the windows down, the fresh air starts to flow into the body of the car. Matt inhales and takes in the smells of downtown Canton, New York: the fried chicken of KFC, salty fries from McDonald’s, and gasoline from Stewarts. By midday, traffic is moving quickly, and not many cars are on the road past the center of town. As the number of cars decreases, so do the areas of    

civilization. While Route 11 is speckled with storage units, random local stores, and the occasional gas station, there isn’t much there.   

The lack of “stuff” in the North Country may deter some prospective students from the area. This was something that Matt, Layne and Ella were all worried about when committing to SLU. But having a car gives Matt and Ella the freedom to explore and see everything Upstate New York has to offer.