State Normal School - Crystal / Levana Yearbook (Athens, GA)

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CRYSTAL sf'-' wg 'Na the large auditorium at chapel. Here if you are near enough, you may hear them sing, and hearing them one is inclined to believe that in this at least they are still in the imitative stage for the two or three possessing the largest Adam's apple follow zealously the deep bass voice of Doctor Pound. Another attempts a repro- duction of Mr. Earnest's tenor, while one poor fellow with highly colored imagi- nation and defective hearing, devotedly runs the vocal gamut with Miss Liebing and secures most astounding results. But on Sundays and at the annual entertain- ments given at Pound Auditorium they are heroes. On Sundays you may see them dressed in their heterogeneous best, complacently wending their peaceful way across the campus and occasionally stopping to engage for just a moment in ethical con- versation with some young lady industriously holding down a rustic seat, while the University boys look longingly on. But at the annual entertainments they reach the highest peak of glory when as ushers they conduct visitors down a feminine vistaed aisle and indicate with a grand sweep of the arm the seat reserved for the stranger. Another seeming incongruity to the casual observor is the Co-edis practice teach- ing. At first he learnedly discusses the psychology and practice of teaching the lesson with the Critic teacher and as soon as the latter can be reasonably sure that he is not going to teach that the earth is flat, or that Washington sailed the Dela- ware blue, in fourteen hundred and ninety-two,7' she allows him a chance at the helpless children. If fifty per cent. of them survive, then he is ready to turn loose on the public. During the period of his practice teaching he may be seen at any time between periods on the playground with children clinging to every available square inch of his person as perhaps he calmly directs Johnny how to get the uscissors-hold on Bill. This, as l stated, may be the Co-ed as the casual observor sees him, and is certainly the shell of the truth, but as a matter of fact he is a very serious minded person with a well defined purpose in view, and he goes about his 'work in a rational way. His situation is a particularly desirable one. In the first place, since he does not live in the dormitories but in private homes near the campus, he has that home life that is impossible in the dormitories. At the same time he has his meals in the dining hall thus giving him some experience in group living, and receives some valuable social training. Lack of restriction gives two valuable things -freedom and individual responsibility. His opportunity to meet desirable people, and to keep up with the events of the outside world is particularly good. The matter of athletics is left to his own taste. Altogether he has an unequaled opportunity for happy carefree school life, for study, for individual research, and unless he shows himself in the right studious spirit he does not find it convenient to stay long. Those remaining consider it a distinct privilege to come to the Normal School where they have every advantage that reason could wish. We feel that upon leaving the halls of our Alma Mater that the inspiration of teachers, classmates, and fellow- Co-eds, will give up strength and courage to hght a better battle, and so we may be able to contribute a tiny mile to the betterment of our neighbors.

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. 'X A C RYS TA-L- M ' ' S. 51. S. Gio-'Eos In the early years following the war between the states a home for soldiers was established on the crest of a hill outside the city of Athens. Some work was done in rehabilitation. Then the Home was moved to Atlanta, and in the early nineties a training school for teachers was established in Rock College, the only building erected to that date. The students were for the most part men. Then came a period of development extending up to the present time. The plant con- sists no longer of a single building but of a dozen, neither is the campus longer a bare hilltop but consists of lawns, driveways, trees and shrubbery. Too, the school term is not ten weeks as in the beginning, but is nine months. The student body has grown from a mere handful at first to over seven hundred now. Another very significant transformation has been wrought. Vlfhereas the student body at first was almost entirely men, the opposite is now true, being practically entirely women. '4An example of survival of the fittesti' some one will say in an attempt to 'be ufunnyf' This condition arises from very apparent causes, all of which have tended to drive men out of the profession of elementary teaching, and all teaching for that matter. This of course is to be greatly regretted since we need men as experts in elementary education, just as truly as women are needed in higher education. ,lust now, however, we have every right to believe that the profession of teaching is to come into its own, though of course it will never be adequately appreciated and rewarded. But there are still men whose native endowments and individual preference is strong enough to cause them to sacrifice the' possibility of a more remunerative profession for the sake of engaging in another in which they feel that they can render a greater service to humanity. Of these, the larger num- ber prefer to go to a college for men or to a university for their preparation. How- ever there is left a few who believe that to master subject matter, theory, and technique, one should begin at the beginning. Therefore they enter the Normal School with the expectation of graduating, and then going to the University for their degree in education, and then staying for a lVlaster's degree possibly, and at most going for a Doctoris degree in one of the big eastern universities. This should make them invaluable as leaders- and interpreters of modern education, because they can see clearly the whole educative process from foundation to peak, whereas so many only see the superstructure. Therefore theirs is to be a unique service. As the outsider sees him, the Co-ed occupies an incongruous position, and we are bound to admit that his is an experience in a class all by itself. Imagine, if you can, the picture of a dozen dignified youths strutting hurriedly, or strolling, nonchalantly across the campus, or perhaps dodging here and there about the en- trance to Round 'Auditorium or Chapel, or before the dining hall at lunch time, striving valiantly to stem an onrushing tide Of femininity, in a sometimes vain effort to avoid collision, or see them again as they fill an allotted small corner in

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