Montclair State College - La Campana Yearbook (Upper Montclair, NJ)

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ycr ic v ( l ss Cisfoyyy Having filled our college days with a maximum of activity we might sometime have difficulty recalling it all, or distinguishing in our minds one year from another. Here is the place to set down the outstanding characteristics, as well as the underlying moods, of old times. The class of 1957 first knew Montclair when it was a quiet unmarked campus, not yet acquainted with parking problems, and mountains of lumber and multitudes of excavations. Hazing, orientation , getting settled, meeting people, were the problems that confronted us Freshmen. As time fled, we gained the sense of belonging and began to work as a class. We spon- sored a class social in the old Rec building. Originators of the basketball games between classes, we presented one with the Sophomores in December. Our talent show in February followed January ' s informal dance. The informal will be best remembered for the sleet which welcomed and crowned it. Another social first was our square dance in March. To this we invited out - siders as a group, and all who attended counted it a success. Spring Time Serenade , the Freshman formal in April, and the Freshman-Sophomore class picnic, fittingly closed a busy, enlightening year. Being Sophomores filled us with individual and collective pride. We had a minor, as well as a major to occupy us. Into packed schedules we allotted time to build an original float for Homecoming — We Knew You Were Coining So We Baked a Cake , and time to run our second square dance in November, an informal in February, and a semi-formal in April at the Glen Ridge Country Club. Rain rivaled every affair, but failed to dilute the enthusiasm and capacity for enjoyment which had become the outstanding part of our reputation. National Sophomore Examinations brought us closer to our goal by indicating how strongly we stood among other college students in many fields. As the year ended with Carnival time, for which the Sophomore Class did award-winning work, and the Soph-Frosh picnic at Kettle ' s Field, many of us paused to look forward as well as behind. Having little brothers and sisters gave us, as brand new Juniors, a taste of responsibility. It also introduced new blood into the lives of a few! Our experience was expanded by Junior Week. How different we were after that visit. We seemed to possess more assurance; certainly our con- victions received a boost once we opened the door to our own high or elementary school years, and perhaps actually conducted classes. Passing SCUM, finding a parking place, avoiding mud- holes, and hopefully cheering the building program to a speedy completion absorbed each of us. The Men ' s Dorm was available for occupation, and we pitched in to improve the excavated, torn grounds around it. The Juniors came out on top in their basketball game with the Sophs. The great March snowstorm afforded two days of unexpected vacation, and saved many a mark for Juniors whose schedules were bursting at the seams. With characteristic fervor we contributed to making the Carnival one of the most successful in Montclair ' s history. Choosing possible practice- teaching situations focused our vision on the culmination of four years ' activity. Serious and watchful, some of us attended Commencement exercises and realized how soon we would be at the end. A letter from the class president to the Seniors of Montclair began our final year even before we returned to campus. Traveling daily from the old building to the new, we moved in two worlds. Methods and subject matter, a hayride and a picnic, and a January informal highlighted the first semester. Then the supreme moment. Practice-teaching. We entered it determined to succeed. We returned in the spring, each of us successful in some way. Senior Week — an unforgettable Senior Assembly, Senior Ball, held at Shackamaxon Country Club in New Jersey, and a picnic instead of the traditional boatride to Bear Mountain — climaxed our group existence. We of the class of 1957 have seen that long ago promise of academic achievement, professional awareness and the nebulous term college life take root, nurture and grow during these exciting years. Because of such attainment we can branch upward and outward with confidence and pride. Page 26