Meredith College - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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It is problematical whether Dr. CampbeU ' s ideal will ever be realized when week ends and vaca- tions are a distressing interruption of the pursuit of scholarship. They are an interruption, all right, but distressing only when they come to an end. And so the roads continue to lead away from and hack to Meredith. Week ends drained off the excess population through the year, but with Thanksgiving, some members and the faculty and about eight from a distance residents were left to rattle around in the echoing dorms. Scarcely was everyone settled down again when all of a sudden the trees were up in the dining hall and parlors, and term papers were due, and State came over to carol — and then we went carolling and it was the last night and the last day, and then it was Christmas, unbelievable as it seemed. Coming back was even worse than usual; there was an inhuman mountain of work leering at everyone. The few days zipped past like telephone poles from a train window, and then one of them fell over and hit us on the head, and exams were upon us. That week is better forgotten — forgotten as completely as the information the exams demanded. Then there was another long (but too short) week end, and lo! game point in the offing. fs- wm i ' m m 25

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Founders ' Day. nui ii:w al.lr luUal tca l Liuuglit turlli ihr .seinnis capped and gcnvned. and the rest of the college holiday attire to observe Meredalis hali-tentury mark, it was a half holiday, hut was more than that as well. In the midst of all this came Palio and Stunt. The Italian originators should see it now! We have the horse race (won by the seniors), the vehicle-bicycle-race (won by the seniors I , song sing- ing (won by the seniors). The seniors also won the attendance prize, and, as sort of shortcake under the whipped cream, won the Palio banner for their procession. It is probably just as well they did not win Stunt as well or they might not have been allowed to live to see their graduation. They made very good forty-niners, though as a history major pointed out a trifle nas ' .ily. Daniel Boone and the gold rush got somewhat confused. As she was a junior, the source may be considered and the remark ignored. The judges were not fussy about their. chronology anyhow. The freshmen gave riding at Meredith another hand into the stirrup. They had some hectic mo- ments the night before, trying to find jodphurs for everyone, a project they were forced to abandon. The sophomores wistfully contemplated a trip to Mars, while the juniors spent the next several days explaining their Palio which had to do with a nursery rhyme about pigs to market, and the world situation — not the astronomical value of meat as one might have supposed. The juniors had their innings that night, however, when they and their chickens made off with the cup, hotly pursued by the Little Brown Lady. With well-chosen digs at Wallace and others, and puns of a hybrid variety, the Fowl Play laid ' em in the aisles. (Bunny did not pay us to say that.) The sophomore birthday party for Meredith boasted such attractions as talking candles and peripatetic candy cups. The freshmen chose a flower and then, almost as quickly. Palio and Stunt were over for another year. One might add, Thanks be! The latter comment is scarcely intended as disparagement of Palio and or Stunt — it s that the whole thing is rather strenuous, involving as it does, marching practice in the foggy, foggy dew, play practice in the dim noctural hours, and the struggles of non home-ec majors with the intricacies of needle and thread and buttons and bows. But despite the toils and trials attendant upon the big day, Palio is one of those unexpendables like the Bee Hive and week ends. We lack a football team, but we still have our home-coming. The weather man has not been able to discourage us, anyway, though he froze us like little ice cicles last year, and roasted us like little marshmallows this year. 24

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At this point our chronology breaks down — what chronology there has been, that is. Not only did the second semester pass so rapidly that events are blurred and topsy-turvy, but also, because of the whims of the editor and the necessity of having the copy at the printer ' s some little time before the book goes to press, the second semester, at this writing, has not yet come to pass. the safe assumption that time brings all things. With due reference to our crystal ball, and let us continue our picture of the year. If the first semester is multiplied by two. one has an approsimation of the second. Evervthing seems to happen, and to happen all at once. Then too. it is harder to keep one ' s mind on absorbing learning when spring is everywhere. There were the notable events of the spring, like Pla l)a . when faculty and students disported themselves at volleyball, hopscotch, croquet, archery, and. most strenuous of all. Chinese checkers. ( Play Day alwa s presents a nice problem in apple shining; is it better to allow one ' s professor to win the game or to defeat him and excite admiration for one ' s prowess? It is more of a problem when only colored bands distinguished faculty and students. One can evade the issue by challenging some department one sees only in passing through the buildings. That ' s not half so sporting, though. I Then there was, of course. May Day. The fair Queen of the May from Florida (did you expect us to pass up that chance to aid the C of C?) presided regalK over her court and the festivities. The weather, of course, had to be unusual in one way or another. There was Religious Emphasis Week, too. back at the beginning of the semester. (We have com- pletely dispensed with chronology; there are fewer thought jjrocesses involved this way.) Through the devotional programs, the talks, the discussion groups, and even the parties and fun. the way of life which Meredith seeks to point out became a vital and meaningful force. But if the week had failed in all else it would not have been useless, for it probably induced more thinking than any other occur- rence through the year, examinations not excepted. Somewhere in all this, came the spring recess, a too brief but exceedingly welcome breathing space. Second semester also brought the plays — society and freshman as well as the Little Theatre productions. The latter group was off to a brilliant start back in dim. old ' 48 with Little Women. Elsie ' s invariable demand. Did vou crv? was usually ans vered affirmatively. 26