Wesleyan College - Veterropt Yearbook (Macon, GA)

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are havinj? a lovely lime with some girls on the lawn, when another girl comes np to you and says she has , an engagement with you. You don’t in the least off with her. She takes you to where there is another don’t see why she will not join the group on the ty lawn; but she insists on her engagement, and you go remember it, but you have so many engagements you have to quit trying to keep up with them all. You it be your pin, too, to join their society. You don’t r know what to say. You like these girls, but your ' roommate is a Philomatheaii and you like her. given her. They ask you if you don’t think it pretty. When you say “Yes,” they ask you to let group of girls. They begin to talk to you of their society. They show you a new pin one of them has You are invited to spreads in girls’ rooms and to those frolics so dear to a college girl’s heart, midnight feasts. You think Wesleyan an ideal place, now. Still the girls act awfully queer sometimes. You You don’t think you ought to pledge either society yet. When you tell them this, they say your roommate has nothing to do with it. You should join the society where your friends are all Adelpheans. You are not sure of this. The Philomatheans have shown you equal attention, seem just as good friends. You leave them without pledging. As you leave the table that evening, a girl comes up to you, and puts her arm about you. She is a Senior, and from your lowly position as a Freshman, you have wondered if you will ever surmount the barriers that stand between you and the exalted position this girl occupies. She. of all other girls you have met, is the bright particular star You have worshipped her from a distance and now your foolish little heart flutters as she draws you out of the crowd of girls down the steps into the moonlight. Then she draws you closer and says. “ I want you to l)e a Philomathean; wdll you promise me, dear?” And you say “ Yes.” How glad the girls seem when she tells them and how glad you are ! Your friends in the other society seem to have forgotten how fond they were of you, but you are so happy you can’t think of that. You are taken into the Philomathean Hall. The beauty of the room takes possession of you as you enter, and its fascination deepens as your familiarity increases in the years to come. There is an air of comfort as well as elegance about the room. Big fur rugs are scattered on the soft carpet. The handsome rosewood chairs stretch out their arms invitingly, and the long divan at the end of the room, with its wealth of sofa pillows, seems to beg you to sit and rest. It is night and the heavy silken hangings are drawn in front of the deep bay window; but the room is flooded in light which comes Time passes on, and the day arrives when you are to l)e taken in; initiated into the mysteries of the Philomathean Society. You and the other girls who are to pass through the dread ordeal are gathered into one of the rooms w aiting the hour. Each of you look nice in your light sumuier dresses, but you are too frightened to think of to you through rose colored shades. A handsome mirror reflects the happy faces of the girls as they sit or stand about the room. That dear old Hall ! little you guess now how you will come to love it in after years. 29

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4i Life at (Ueskyan a$ a Pbiloniatheaii” ITH a great clatter and clang of machinery the train comes to a stop under the car shed. You get off. You are very lonely and you don’t know what to do. You stand staring helplessly about you, when you hear some one say, “Is there anyone here for Wesleyan College?” You feel relieved, smile, say “Yes,” and surrender your check to the kindly faced gentleman. How eagerly you watch from the car window for the College! You are sure you will recognize it from its pictures. At last you see it looming grandly up in the distance. It is a magnificent old build- ing, but there is something about it that strikes terror to your poor, boiiiesick little heart. It is so big, and you, you are so little. rnnm pHncipal. She introduces you to two or three girls in the room. Their forlorn appearance labels them as new girls like yourself. in a“ghter in the halls. The principal calls the girls m and tells them to show you to your room, and to introduce you to the other girls who ve you inquisitive. They ask you your name, home, theclass y t to enter, when you came and other questions too many to name. They put their arm about you with the freedom of years of friendship, and proc ' eed to show y u ove! the the frr Thllt r“ w ' r acquaintances break away from you with gul fashion, but it seems very gushing to you. They say how glad they are to get back You look upm -onder Glad to be back at Wesleyan ? You can ' t understand it. Oh the diff ' ?u ‘’i - “ ynn und takes you in. Oh the difference lu the faces at that meal! Some as bright as a radiant June morning some as dark as a cloudy winter night. uiumiDg, some will “i ' dinner. She eyes you a little critically, but she hopes you will good friends. You like her and feel more at home already euopesyou .rrouns°th?f ’‘ understand the meaning of the little groups gathered about the halls, the little f esi tl gradually melt into large ones. The girls are Ulking so earnestly and cautiously I reseutly one of these groups break up. Two of the girls come to you and ask you to walk. You do so, but you had rather go to your room and cry. They make engagements to walk with you between supper bells, after supper, before chapel, and for church. You think them very cordial. As you go to your room you meet other girls who introduce themsel.es to you. They immediately begin to make engagements to walk. ou wonder vaguely if the girls do nothing but walk. You tell these girls of the engagemenls you have already. They are awfully sorry,” but they make a number of others with yon. The attention of the girls keep up without intermission. You have engagements every spare moment of the day. Every afternoon some one takes you to the Pharmacy.” One of the town girls takes you dnvmg and treats at Lamar ' s. She has you out to spend the day on Monday. You meet some friends of her ' s who are verv nice ” 28

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. ] 7 ■ u X how you look. All day you have plugged at the Greek Alphabet; you have committed to memory Horace’s ode to Sydia, and a part of Cicero’s defense of Roscius, and you have struggled in vain to learn the Lord’s prayer back- wards. Your Senior friend, “as a friend,” has told you it would be wise to do this. She wishes you to ride the billy oat with all ease possible, and this, she w’arns you, is the magic charm by which he is tamed and made manageable. One by one the girls are taken up stairs; at last it is your time. You go, clinging to the hand of your escort, and faintly murmuring, “ora pro nobis.” There is a strange, unearthly knock at the door; you cross the threshold, and — ! How ' proudly you carry yourself as you come down to tea. You are a Philomathean now. The badge on your heart is the token of that. You may be foolish, but you sleep with it on tonight, and your hand rests lovingly on it while you dream of that strange, sweet country whose borderland you crossed today. You look forward eagerly to Monday morning. You know ' the regular weekly meetings are held that day. The girls always seem to have such good times then. On this particular morning you jump up from your books as soon as you hear the bell ring. Ah, the girls do have happy times in the Hall You are so glad you are a Philomathean- It is spring. You hear the girls talking of a Grand Meeting. They tell you it is a meeting to which the friends and honorary members of the society are invited. You think that aw ' fully nice. You have a friend you would like to invite; the friend to whom you gave your Philomathean pin a w ' eek or two ago when you spent the day out in tow’n. The time for the meeting has come. You are in a flutter of excitement. You haven’t too much to do, but the failure or success of the society falls on all its members alike. The short program is soon over. The girls did beautifully, you think. You are proud of being a Philomathean. Commencement days are past, and it is time to go home for these long months. The three long months are three very short ones, and you are back under the car shed at Macon. You are not lonely now. You know what lies before you. You are an old girl. As you enter the college door you see your roommate. You fly at her in the w ' ay that was so incomprehensible to you last year. You go off arm in arm with her, asking which of the girls have come back; w’ho the Philomatheans w’ant; what kind of girls are the new ones; and which society is on top now in the rush. You fall into the way of paying those kindnesses and courtesies to the new girls that were paid to you last year. You find they are not casual trifles, but deep laid plans that absorb your whole time. You neglect all your school work for the first few weeks You may be able to make that up for examinations. You can’t make up society w ' ork. That waits for no one. At last the initiation is over, and you settle down to a hard year’s work. It seems such a short time since school opened when you begin work for the exhibition; you have to work hard, too. You are up in the morning with the birds, studying away at your part, and you are up late at night practicing it. Final examinations coming on makes no difference in the amount of practicing }ou have to do. It is for the Philomathean exhibi- 1 tion and it must be a success. ' T Li 30