Philadelphia Osteopathic Hospital School of Nursing - Cranium Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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CLASS HISTORY Hear Ye! Hear Ye I We, of the Class of ' 38, are about to finisfi our training at the Osteopathic Hospital, perhaps never again to reassemble as a body. Turning our backs, though not our hearts, on all the work and fun and dreaming, we seventeen women face the world. Each has her separate pattern to trace; our history as a class is ended. Since it is fitting that we make some permanent record of these productive years together, we inscribe this history of our class. On September 9, 1933. our Alma Mater gave birth to a new class of twenty- four students. In honor of the occasion, there was a family gathering that night in the Nurses Home, vhere we were introduced to the activities of our new life. How insignificant we felt during those first few months! We learned to step humbly out of the vay when a doctor, supervisor or senior nurse appeared. There was also that queer business of running to bed at ten-thirty when the bell sum- moned us. And those lofty upper classmen! Would we, could we, ever become the exalted beings they were? So great was our doubt that three of our number left training during the nrst two weeks. There was loads of fun, too. The Welcome Party given us by the upper classmen; the dance in honor of freshmen and probies; the Halloween Party and the Amateur Show all helped greatly in making those difficult months of adjust- ment a joy to remember. The most outstanding event of that first year, and the one each of us will recall with deepest feeling, was the very impressive Capping Ceremony held in the Nurses ' Home. There were two spruce trees, one decorated for Christmas, the other with white nurses ' caps. As each name was called, a Senior Nurse removed a cap from the tree and placed it on the probie. At last we were accepted nurses! Twenty girls, wearing the symbol of their profession, walked more proudly than as many new-crowned kings. Even during the Christmas Party which followed, we were deeply conscious of those bits of white perched upon our heads. Christmas dawned, the first that many of us had ever spent away from home. We braced ourselves against knowing home-sickness. We were nurses and must expect to find ourselves far away from home, even at Christmas, if we vould follow the profession we had elected. The carols which we sang in the Hospital that morning took on an added fervor, and helped to dispel the last cobwebs of home- sickness. 60

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MOTHER MASTERS How futile it seems to try to express our feelings for this lady who captured a definite part of our hearts. She has made a house into a home, consoled us in the blacKest moments, rejoiced in the bright ones; gave us her most supreme smiles, and has truly been another mother to us. We wish her all the health and happi- ness in the world and hope she will always be with us to mother many more classes to come. 39

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The CKarity Ball in February, and the First Nurses ' Formal in March, were social events that we will always remember with pleasure. There was httle time to dwell on the glory of such affairs, for exams were upon us with startling suddenness. Commencing with June, vacations started. Our second year began with the arrival of a new class. We were now inter- mediate nurses, far removed in status from these callow probies who regarded us with the same awe we had accorded the intermediate nurses of a ye ar ago. How lofty we felt! How competent! How completely admirable! Though more difficult, our work had grown in interest. We attacked it with a vigor and sureness that proved the extent of our growth in the year left behind. After the election of our class president, we planned to do big things. There was money to be raised for our year book and other senior activities. With this purpose in mind, we gave a dance at the College Auditorium in January. The annual college dances that followed were bright breaks in the routine of our day. The Second Nurses ' Formal which we gave in honor of the seniors was held in March. Acting as hostesses, we took full responsibility for the success of the dance. Another class graduated. At last we were seniors! To tell the truth, we regarded our status with almost as much wonder and awe as the probies accorded it, though we carefully hid this feeling beneath a sophisticatedly professional mien. This was the year for our affiliation at Philadelphia General Hospital. It was the realization of a dream, a milestone in our progress toward becoming well- rounded, efficient nurses. Here our earlier training in old customs and traditions of our profession received its final polish. We absorbed much valuable experience of the kind that is best acquired in a larger hospital. The winter social events were fun provoking, as usual, with that added flavor of homage which we enjoyed as seniors. This year we were busy raising money for our year book. Everyone worked quite hard in making the Variety Show and dance a success. Inspired with the achievement of this affair, we gave a Fashion Show which proved both a financial and social accomplishment. The Third Nurses ' Formal, perhaps the greatest of these, was given in our honor, and we s hall never forget it. The two most important projects of this year were our plans for the year book, and the adoption of a standard ring. Both of these we consider a definite achieve- ment, and a fitting close to our career as a class. We leave regretfully although we have supreme confidence that our successors will carry onward creditably the ideals and standards of our training school. 61