Littleton College - Chatterbox Yearbook (Littleton, NC)

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218 Tun CHATTERBOX. Why Go to College ? JESSIE COGDELL. Yes, here is that old question, 'tlVhy should Women go to College Z Yet, it is not so old, either, for it has only been a short While since people have realized the fact that Women should b-e educated. But lately the education of Wo- men has been making strides equal to the other advances of civilization, for it was inevitable that such should be the case. Yet improvement has errors to combat as Well as triumphs to enjoy, and a universal acknowledgement of the right of ,Wo- man to all advantages by which she is capable of profiting has not yet been celebrated. But as best fruits ripen slowly, vve must have patience. lVe can already see that this question is asked less frequently now than it was several years ago, and higher education of women has already become an ac- cepted commonplace. And since this is true, let us notice what may be gained by a college education. A girl may enter college with a clumsy self-consciousness, a manner characterized by bluff rather than by ease, but she is not there long before she insensibly has some of these er- rors correctedg and the longer she goes, the greater are the improvements to be noticed. The tones, the accents, the modes of speech and the stamp gained by the early home-life have been brought here by the girls and are susceptible of modi- fications, improvements, or development in whatever Way will aid to the strength and usfulness of the future. Four years of agreeable intimacy and of absorption in common air, four years of association with girls from other sections, other families, and backgrounds impart a social training be- yond comparison in its effects on individual girls. Still there are other things to be gained that are equally important. A girl never feels so keenly the need of some

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THE CHATTERBOX. 217 To the Class of '08, PRESIDENT. Classmates, truly the last four years of our lives have been happy ones, With a mixture of hard digging, high honors, and deep responsibilities. lVe, as a class, have formed strong, helpful, lasting friendships among ourselves, our collegemates and teachers. VVhile struggling to master Math and Science or Write Eng- lish papers Worthy of an 'CA H-Excellent! We were en- couraged to do our best because ever in our minds was visible a goal toward the attainment of which We were bending all of our strength and energy. But now as diplomas are Within an armis length, and as the time draws nigh for us to separate, We begin to think seriously over our College days and ask ourselves the question, ls the possessing of a diploma the greatest thing that comes to a College girl ? The answer co es, No, lVe would not give anything in exchange for the ng spirit of love and loyalty that pervades the classfis As ive, the class of 1908, go forth in life to our several duties of undertaking to lift mankind to a higher plane, let us ever look to one another for encouragement. Let us think of our class as,- One that never turned its back, but marched breast forward. Let us be strengthened by thoughts of bygone days when we as a. class encouraged one another by echoing the words of Browning- ' Then Welcome each rebut? That turns earth's smoothness rough, Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go! Be our joys three parts pain ! Strive and hold cheap the strain, Learn, nor account the pangg dare, never grudge the throef'

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THE CHATTERBOX. 219 one to help and comfort her'as she does when she first enters college. If there is no one in the higher classes ready to give this help, then she learns her first lesson in self-reliance--an excellent thing for her. The first welcome extended to the new students is generally given by the Young W'omen's Christian Association. This organization is to-day the most ,aggressive and most potent moral influence in college-life. Its beneficent work has spread to almost every college worthy of the name. But the Christian Association by no means represents all of the religious activities of the college. There are regular services held by those who give this work special attention. There are courses of study ethical merely, others Biblical and distinctly religious. VVhen the nature of the va- riety of religious activities is taken into consideration along with the fact that more than half the students are professing Christians, it becomes evident that the moral atmo-sphere of the college is good for those who seek the best it offers. Girls go to college incidentally to take a definite, discursive or profound course of study and to earn a diploma. What a girl studies in college, her recitations, examinations, her degree, although most important and most impressive in the eyes of her kindred and friends, are not in reality the most serviceable assets of her four years in college. She acquires by means of study and by means of drill, a mental discip- line and intellectual force that are to stand her in stead through the years of the future. To acquire the habit of do- ing certain things at certain times to the best of womanly ability is worth more to a girl than all the progress she can make in Physics and Mathematics. To become permeated with a love of good literature, to make friends with great authors, to know a good book from a bad one, to grow into a familiar acquaintance with one's mother-tongue and to get some knowledge of other tongues as they are spoken to-day are among the endowments that a college training bestows.