Eastern Mennonite School - Shenandoah Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

Page 31 text:

Two Small Boats We met two small boats going opposite directions we would have passed in the middle of the river barely rippling the silent water but there we were tied to the same pier moving together swaying to the rhythmic blue of the troubled water then you cast off upstream and I glided down will you remember at the head of the river when all the people cheer Ivan Shantz Wilmer Otto, Suzanne Bomberger

Page 33 text:

Renee Minnich, Becky Lehman, Ellen Kennel, Tobi Brenneman. “I'm bored most of the time at EMC because I don't like scheduled living. Here I could live my life blind-folded. When I feel really bad I go to my room and put on a record, turn up the vol- ume, put my head between the speakers, and try to forget where I am and who I am. “Even though I live in the dorm where there are lots of people, I often feel terribly alone. It's really hard for us to relate to each other because we're thrown together in an abnormal living sit- uation. When the loneliness hurts too bad I go in to town or find someone to play cards with, not because I like cards, but because it gives me a relationship with people for a commoji pur- pose. There are unhappy people at EMC; students who find it hard to make the transition from friends, families, and home cooking to imper- sonal dorm living, regimented meal-times, and large lecture-hall classrooms. Surrounded by people, they still feel lonely because they can't find a place where they are needed, an activity that gives them a common bond with other students. So they try to escape. One time-honored campus haunt for spiritual solitude is the hill. Other people leave campus when they can to go to movies, restaurants, or shops. Clubs, athlet- ics, Y groups, the snack shop, and the Bard's Nest are all havens of friendship to interested students. Dates can kill the problem of lonely evenings. “I very seldom get bored, claims one girl, “My boyfriend and I get off campus about five times a week, often to a friend's house or to town for shopping or a movie. But students who do not or cannot date often find themselves alone. Most campus activities are considered dating times. If I don't have money for a date or I get turned down, I leave campus or stay in my room. I wish there was more group participation on campus. “The general routine of studies gets me up- tight sometimes, states a sophomore. Last year I didn't have a car and I really felt trapped. This year I have one. I don't use it that much but just knowing it's there is reassuring. “The trouble is there's nowhere to escape to, a Junior laments, “you have to go to D.C. or someplace like that. Harrisonburg only offers movies, usually lousy, or restaurants. Restau- rants aren't that good anyway because you usually go with the people you're trying to es- cape from. 32