Student LIfe

A Distance Education Perspective

by gloria edwards

Through SAGU’s distance education program, SAGU’s campus is not just in Waxahachie; it also includes many diverse locations across the country. For me, that place is Lancaster, Ohio.

I have called Lancaster home for almost two years, and in that time, I have come to appreciate its places, people, history, and culture. So for a few minutes, let me show you around my hometown.

If you were to come here in person, perhaps the first thing you would notice is the way we pronounce our town’s name. The first syllable, “Lanc,” we pronounce to rhyme with the word bank. The next part sounds approximately like the word us, but “Lanc” receives the stress, and the last part is “ter,” which rhymes with were: LANK-us-ter. For our first stop, I’ll give you a birds-eye view of the town from Mount Pleasant.

Ascending some 250 feet above the town at its base, this ridge typifies the hilly landscape surrounding Lancaster. Called the foothills of Appalachia (APPLE-atcha, by the way), these hills hide interesting rocky gorges and waterfalls under a canopy of oak, maple, and hickory trees. Atop Mount Pleasant, you’ll find small oak trees growing on the sandstone cliff, giving the vantage point a deep woodsy smell. Below, the red roofs of the fairgrounds look like miniature toys, and church steeples stand above historic houses. In the distance, tree-covered hills frame the horizon.

I like the local names for various landforms. “Knobs” are isolated hills, round in circumference; many are named for their owners, such as Beck’s Knob with its distinctively pointy shape. Many local streams are named “runs,” such as Hunter’s Run near my home. Historic covered bridges are an icon of this landscape, often spanning our runs in scenic parks. If you were to follow one of these runs, you’d likely end up at the Hocking River. With its headwaters running through Lancaster, the Hocking is popular for recreation and also plays prominently in Lancaster’s history: perhaps in your very own kitchen, you have a piece of Anchor-Hocking glassware made right here in Lancaster.

Lancaster was founded in 1800 by Ebenezer Zane along the first major road in Ohio, called Zane’s Trace. Lancaster also had access to the Erie Canal via the Lancaster Lateral Canal, which ran along present-day Memorial Drive. One of the workers who dug this canal, age thirteen at the time, was none other than William Tecumseh Sherman, of Civil War fame. Sherman grew up at 137 E. Main Street in Lancaster, which today is the Sherman House Museum. The house is a relatively unassuming two-story brick sandwiched between other large historic homes near the top of the hill.

My favorite ways to explore Lancaster are by bicycle and hiking trail, sometimes both on the same trip. The Hocking Hills region close to Lancaster is renowned for its hiking opportunities, and Lancaster itself has a generous share of parks and nature preserves. Rhododendron Cove, with its deep bowl lined with rhododendrons, and Christmas Rocks, with its rippling stream and imposing hills, are some of my favorites close by. In addition to land features, the trees also conceal more elusive inhabitants: for example, Pileated woodpeckers, revealed by a quick flickering of white as they fly from tree to tree. Pileated are some of the most stunning of woodpeckers, with a wingspan of over two feet and an almost entirely black body. Their heads wear sweeping, bright-red crests. Again, hiking is an exciting way to experience Lancaster!

All in all, I think Lancaster is a beautiful and intriguing place, inviting me to continue exploring. And I’ll be doing so alongside the many SAGU distance education students across the country. 

In fact, maybe our paths will cross sometime soon. For anyone attending the Assemblies of God General Council this year in Columbus, Lancaster will be only forty minutes away.