Medical University of South Carolina - Tres Anni Yearbook (Charleston, SC)

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5.12501 Ufiau chfiafozgiy cgiection 3 Looking back now we cannot help but smile sadly as we reminisce about these past three years at Roper. On September 4, 1951, fifty young ladies, excited with the idea of becoming a nurse, gathered together at Main Nurses Home. Oh, yes, each of us felt a little scared as we looked at the many books, the schedule of classes, and the confident upperclassmen. There have been many times when we wanted to throw up our hands in despair and go home to sympathetic, understanding parents. How happy we are today that we remained! Probie days were quite a struggle for some of us and yet now they seem to have been our happiest days of training. It was fun pretending to be the patient in learn- ing nursing procedures, and how proud we were to learn that we could actually make a bed with a patient in it. Endless it seems were the hours we spent in the nursing arts lab practicing these procedures only to discover You havent practiced enough! Happy was the day when we were allowed to descend upon the wards and get supervised on the many procedures we had learned! Classes and daily quizs faced us, so we observed the study hall every week night. Finally after sweating through the many practicals and theoretical exams the big day arrived. In january of 1952 we were capped. Bursting with pride we walked on the wards with our caps placed precariously on our heads. We felt as if we were wheels and that we finally belonged to the student body. Ward duties brought many new tasks and emlrarrassments as well as the many smiles and tears. Probably the most embarrassing thing to all of us was the inability to distinguish between residents, Big Chiefs , and interns. Our self-confidence was shattered to pieces when we discovered that we had asked the chief to start an I. V. How completely opposite, however, was the feeling we had within when a patient smiled and said, Thank you, nurse, after having received a tedious and painful treatment. Medications confronted us at this time, also. You might hear, Have you been assigned to I. M.'s yet? and the reply, Yes, you should see the list of them on colored surgery, but they're easy, you just- on and on it would go. Gradually we began to feel somewhat at home on the wards. The first year passed quickly, and we soon discovered something new had been added to our old and familiar blue and white -our first black band. Now we were well on the way, and how time did fly' We had fewer classes than before, but there was still much to learn as we went from service to service. Each of us being on a dif- ferent one, it seemed that we rarely saw our classmates, but there were still the ole' get togethers in which we discussed our new experiences and problems. Vacation time ap- peared and we surely welcomed it. Along about the end, we were eager to return and get back to work. Another year behind us meant another black band on our white caps. It was a wonderful though frightening feeling to accept the responsibility of being a senior. Dur- ing our senior year we were given the privilege of having Miss Chamberlin iron out the wrinkles and present us with a stepping stone to a more professional life in P. A. II. Affiliation at State for three months soon rolled around and we went in groups of ten and twelve-our first real class separation. All enjoyed State and returned to Roper better volleyball players and dancers. Many pleasant formal dances, square dances, and parties have passed our way dur- ing our role as student nurses. Our thoughts now are in the very near future on gradua- tion and commencement. To which field of nursing will we turn? With this feeling of uncertainty, we are somewhat hesitant as we approach the threshold of becoming a graduate. Many tears will fall as we depart from our friends, classmates, and dear ole' Roper. Yet, 'tis an undescribable feeling to know we have reached our goal. Would we do it all over again? Yes! Many times, yes! JANELLE LESTER. Page Tufeizly-Fiz'e

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A.-A Q: ,f ff QUW4 5. fm cm, Q 7 f X Vice President JERRILEEN METTS Presldent PATSY SELLERS 1 EIZLOT Q55 0f,QQ,m Treasurer JAN ET MORRIS Page Twelziy-Fam' Secretary JANE SELLERS

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anioz Qfass. Lstofz Section 4 History books are filled with great events, but one of the most important happen- ings in the lives of fourteen young women didn't even create a ripple in the fast current of history making functions. On February 11, 1952, they embarked on a three year adventure that would make them mature, professional women. The first six months were filled with cries of Isn't nursing wonderful? , I'm going home , and Golly, I gave my first so and so today. Time was filled with study, especially of Nursing Arts and Anatomy and all the other studies so necessary to us. Then june 6--the first milestone-was reached and successfully passed. All four- teen received those white caps so dear to every nurse. The freshman year was filled with the realization that we were well on our way to becoming nurses. To relate our experiences the only place to begin is Nursing Arts. Here we learned the fundamentals of nursing which we would add to many other courses and much experience. We had classes galore and practice hours that seemed like eternity. Then there were the times we had to get up an hour early to open the lab. On that morning we always thought and they wonder why we sleep in class. Before long we were going on the wards where we put into practice all the knowl- ege we had so recently acquired and we were plenty scared. Even now we can easily remember that first day, but assignments that seemed impossible soon became daily rou- tine. The patients were soon our friends and it was a joy to smile a cheerful good morning and get the same greeting in return. juniors! A stripe! Had we really been here a year? Those were the thoughts on everyone's mind about the day of February 11, 1953. Our first year and only one had left our ranks. Everyone settled down to more serious studying and even a little more play. With our stripe came more responsibility which would give us a better insight into nursing. We began our special services and someone was always saying How's the O. R.? or How ya like Peter Rabbits? You would probably hear I can't thread sutures fast enough or I wish somebody would invent an automatic diaper changer. A year and two stripes later we were Seniors and again we lost only one. And boy! What two black bands can do for a piece of muslin. Now we felt like we were going somewhere and we did! . . . To State Hospital in Columbia for three months affiliation. Man, what a life and how different from our hospital! Not only that, but we had the privilege to meet atnd know students from all over the state. We hope we learned something and we know we had a good time. Before long we will be exchanging our senior stripes for the distinctive cap Roper graduates so proudly wear and, also, that shiny piece of yellow metal that pins each of us a nurse. We cannot begin to express our feelings about the past three years. They have been full of excitement, gaiety, much study, hard work, and'many, many good times. To sum it up in two very familiar phrases we could say, ' Its been real and It was the most, to say the least. by MYRA WHATLEY AND PEGGY KIRKLEY Page Twenty-S ix