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

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Senior Class

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fs G I .79 Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs Mrs l E ei 'C 1 X Isabell Allen Carrie Kangater Ruth Reid Elizabeth Busch Freda Miller 'MVA r a I I 8 W

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Class History On September 9, 1958, fifty-eight aspiring Florence Nightingales began a walk down a road which was soon to be paved pebble by pebble with each new experience in their chosen profession. Those who have traveled this road before told of the pleasures and hardships at each new turn and so, with this knowledge, we began our walk with enthusiasm and vigor. Mass confusion reigned on entrance day and the only positive fact we knew was that our new roommate certainly had a lot of odds and ends. Our first Big Sister-Little Sister Party was a welcome we shall long remember. We laughed whole-heartedly, if but a bit vaguely, at the skits whose real meaning would soon be re- vealed to us in the days to follow. As the days passed our roommates changed from the stranger at the other desk to a close, or at least recognizable, friend and our big sister became the source of the true facts of nurs1ng . It seemed our class could really raise the roof, for on a quiet afternoon in September the furnace welcomed us lustily by throwing her hat in the sky. Along withanew routine came study hall, written excuses, giving baths, anatomy, hurricanes, and our first floor duty on the wards of Old Roper. The clanging sound of the fire alarm resound - ing through the nurses' home is a lesson we shall long remember also as a part of our first six months. With the passing of ward practicals and final exams, We passed from our Preclinical Days. Onthe night of February 20, 1959, we realized the seriousness of our service as we repeated the Nightingale Pledge and our caps were added as a new and most respected part of our uniform. On this important night we all stood proudly and sang the four verses of Others , if not with the right words at least with the right spirit. At this point we rounded the first bend in the road and as we looked upon the remainder, our goal still seemed far away. During the following months our class really began to feel like a part of the school and the hospital. We were now members of Student Government and we participated in the Miss Medical College Contest in which Barbara Elsey was selected first runner-up. The first section of our class began the hot summer in the diet kitchen and operating room. Evening duty kept us up later than usual and we were now assisting with I.V.'s with all the dexterity we could muster. As we accepted these responsibilities, we also had to accept a new path. The distance between our rooms and the office of our dean was worn thin through constant use. This we discovered was part of the past, present, and future in the lives of each student nurse. As the summer ended so began our second year on September 3, 1959. We now acquired our first stripe and our first little sisters . On October 17, 1959, as the doors of Old Roper Hospital closed a great part of the hearts of each of us remained within those walls reliving the long hours, the new friends, and experiences found therein. In the late fall the arrival of hurricane Gracie found us with every available container filled with water in case of shortage, which we soon found to be a fallacy, for the next few days we walked in water, and even lived with water on the floor until mops were available. Our second year passed in a flurry of classes, mid-winter vacations, and snow in March. We began our rotations to State Hospital, Obstetrics, and then Pediatrics. September 13, 1960, brought with it two black stripes and so as we turned another bend in the road, our goal was now in sight. With our third year in full swing, Eva Brumfield was elected president of the Student Govern- ment Association and she, with other members of the school were off to conventions filled with work and pleasures. ' Christmas arrived and brought with it Santa Claus, the Christmas Dance, decorating parties, and cold dark mornings at 6:00 A.M., which came very early. Thenthe spring of the year--the awakening of the earth and also the awakening of the students fifteen minutes earlier in order to tread the path to Pinehaven Tuberculosis Hospital. Clinic, Emergency Room, and Professional Adjustments II are all behind us with only the vast future ahead. June 1, 1961--the Day of Days--the termination of the road--Graduation. Though many for whom the road was too rough or too long faltered along the way, those of us who reamined found the pebbles of experience worth the price. Although we cannot see beyond the next bend, we can turn and look with pleasure upon THE ROAD WE TOOK . Carol Parker Class Historian zo