Ursuline Academy - Servian Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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MELISSA'S BIRTHDAY. It was November 13, her birthday. Melissa was home some time when the phone rang in the den loud and clear. She dashed into the room, turned on the light, and lowered the radio. By the time she found the telephone buried under a pile of cushions, it had stopped ringing. She put the phone on the coffee table and turned the radio back to its former volume, then pickedup a magazine and started to read. But in a few minutes she put the magazine down again. She couldn't keep her mind on reading. Here she was, stuck at home baby-sitting. It was her birthday, too. So what was she doing about it? Nothing. Her parents had gone to a party and had left her at home with her three small brothers. It was terrible. She had had to turn down three invitations to parties tonight just so she could baby-sit. She was brought back from her thoughts of how unlucky and unhappy she was by the recurrent ringing of the telephone. She stilled the radio and lifted the receiver. Hello, she said. No one answered. Hello ?. . . Hello?. . . Who's calling please ?. . . Is anyone there? Still there was no answer. Then Melissa heard some one hang up the other phone. Maybe it was a wrong number. She decided not to worry about it any further. Be- sides, she would rather just sit around and feel sorry for herself. A few minutes later the phone rang again. This time it was Melissa's mother. She was calling to find out if Melissa had put the children to bed and if everything was all right. Melissa told her that it was and trying to sound sincere, told her mother not to worry about anything but having fun at the party. Melissa hung up and decided to try to be brave and read again. This time Melissa was interrupted by a news bulletin on the radio. The music stopped and an announcer said: All residents of Jackson City are asked to be on the lookout for a mental patient who escaped this after- noon from the Jackson City Sanitorium. He is about six feet tall and weighs about one-hundred ninety pounds. He is believed to be armed and is dangerous. If he is seen, please notify the police or the hospital officials immediately. We now return to the program in progress. The music resumed. Melissa began to read again. But true to custom the phone was not going to remain quiet. Again it rang. Melissa answered. This time a deep masculine voice answered, Is this the Nelson residence? Melissa said that it was. May I speak to your father? He's not home right now. May I take a .... Then may I speak to your mother? She's not home either. Is there any message? Uh - - - No message. He hung up. Melissa froze but tried to con- centrate on her reading. About a half hour later, after staring at a tomato paste advertisement for most of the time, Melissa suddenly started. There was someone in the basement. She was sure that the sound she had heard was the squeaking of the basement door. Then suddenly there was a terrific crash. Someone had stumbled over the shuffleboard equipment in the dark. Whoever was down there was in the playroom. What should she do? Maybe it was just the dog. If her father had not chained him to his doghouse he could have come in through the little door made for him in the basement door. It was probably just Roscoe, she thought. Maybe I ought to put him outside. But as she rose from her chair she thought of the mysterious phone calls and of the news bulletin. What if it's not Roscoe? What if it's a person? What if it's that man? Then what shall I do ? There is nobody home but me. What if something were to happen? Then, summoning all her courage she crept to the top of the basement steps. ls anybody there ? She called. No answer. Then she heard Roscoe bark. She felt reassured. Then suddenly. . . she heard the footsteps. They seemed to be comingntoward the bottom of the steps. She reached for her brother's baseball bat in the broom closet where she had put it when she had cleaned the kitchen. If anyone had to protect the home it had to be she. Her brothers were her responsibility. Slowly she began to descend the steps. Her heart was in her mouth as each one creaked beneath her weight. The sound had never seemed to be so loud before. There seemed to be about three times as many steps as she had remembered. Her heart was beating furiously andthe noise of her heart- beat seemed to be reverberating through the whole house. Her head felt as if it were expanding and contracting and as if it would burst. Her knees were like water and she felt that they would not support her much longer. Her hands were clammy and the bat was slipping from her grasp. Her breathing was hard and forced. The footsteps in the playroom had stopped - - - at the foot of the stairs! She was almost at the bottom now. She reached the last step and said a quick, silent prayer, then stepped into the playroom. Suddenly she felt a very large hand on her shoulder. The bat slipped from her hands. She screamed hoarsely and blacked out. When she came to, she opened her eyes to see her father looking down at her. Lord, Melissa, I'm sorry we scared you. We planned this surprise party for your birthday, but we didn't plan to scare you like this. Then Melissa looked around. She saw all her friends. They had all been invited to her party. They had made the noises getting into the playroom. And she had nearly died of fright. She felt all right now and sat up. She was ready to celebrate her birthday. ' -- Margaret Gravois '64

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INTO THE UNKNOWN A CONTRAST It is early morning, August third, 1492 Three small ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria are at anchor in a Spanish seaport. This day is a reward for Christopher Columbus, for it is the culmination of many months of failures, trying to win over support from various heads of government to back his plan for reaching India by sailing west. There are not many people watching his preparations for de- parture, just a few women, sailors, and children standing on the docks, laughing at the undertaking, and scornfully saying that Columbus will never return. He now bids farewell to the crowd. The crew, not more than one hundred men, lift anchor. The wind fills the white sails and slowly carries the three little wooden boats out to the Atlantic Ocean and on to the unknown. Four-hundred and seventy years later on February twentieth, 1962, another ship is about to emerge on a journey. The tall gleaming space-ship, Friendship 7, glints in the early-morning sunlight at Cape Canaveral, Florida. After three longs years of hard work, this is the day that an American astronaut will circle the earth. Millions all over the world, child- ren in classrooms, adults in offices and stores are anxiously glued to televisions and radios. As zero min- ute approaches, a feeling of apprehension builds. Then, slowly but surely, the rocket climbs to the bright blue sky and into the unknown ocean of space. --Betty Ann Rivet '64 TIME When I stop and think of time My mind begins to blur. I think of present, and of past And also of the future. Then I think of what it means To live from day to day How can I find tomorrow? Surely, there must be a way. But each time I come to tomorrow I find it isn't there Because tomorrow becomes today. I can't see how that is fair. But if I could get to tomorrow I know I would not stay. For everyone knows that you can live Only in today. Noelie Pilie '65 A MEMORABLE DAY Although my friend had never mentioned out- right that she was considering being a nun, the day she told me she was entering I wasn't at all surprised. It was strange but I actually felt that I had known it all along. It seemed as though it just couldn't be any other way. After the initial shock of the announcement had passed I made supreme efforts to keep my mind from realizing the void that would come. We live and laughed away those months creating the warmth of golden mem- ories in our hearts and minds. At last the night before she was to leave arrived. She and I and a few other friends gathered for her last night among her friends. This was a good distraction that made the night pass lightly and quickly. On the morning of her departure- we all went down to the Chapel to receive Holy Communion. I realized that morning that this reception of Our Lord would symbolize a union Ann and I would always share though many miles apart. Then we both promised to re- ceive Our Lord every day possible as though we were still side by side at the Holy Table. Strange as it may seem, the miles vanish like mist between us when we meet in prayer. Linda Calongne, '62, Let Him Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone. Peggy Lowrey '6 Our Lord was walking pensively through the streets of a small city in Palestine. It was hot. The sun shone on His gleaming red-brown hair. If a person should have happened to pass, he might have halted, fixed in his step, to gaze in amazement at the majectic figure, almost unconsciously the thought would have run through his mind, This is a great man! Suddenly, there was a noise, a bustle, a shout in the quiet path. A boisterous crowd wove its way through. the village and then hesitated at the square. Our Lord looked on. A sobbing woman was pushed into the open, roughly, unfairly. Our Master could no longer be a by- stander. He looked with sympathy, and even sorrow on the unfortunate woman, an adulteress. The throng was set in its purpose. This woman had committed a base treachery -- the punishment was stoning, and the Jewish law knew not mercy. For this Jesus came. He confronted that crowd with a challenge. Let him who is without sin, he said, cast the first stone. That multitude was dumbfounded. Every man of it shrank away. And guilt pursued them. Since the incident centuries ago, many crowds have pushed forth many persons accused of some infamy. These words of Christ stand to condemn their actions. People, so eager to condemn others, see not the need to reform themselves.

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Editor's Note: Speech delivered on Ring Night. For almost four years, with the help of our parents, our teachers, and our friends, we have been striving to attain a certain goal. The Ursuline ring marks the near completion of this task, for it is the symbol of the culmination of our efforts. It is the compact of many wonderful memories, many proud moments, and the fulfillment of a glorious dream. In the inexperience of our youth, it represents the epitome of success. But perhaps in a few years, we will more clearly realize that to those who know us now, it is another step in the development of the child into the woman. But with every honor comes a responsibility. With this ceremony comes the greatest responsibility we have ever been asked to undertake, for the wearer of this ring must endeavor to exemplify at all times, the courage and purity of St. Ursula, the knowledge of St. Angela, and the sound principles and teachings of her Ursuline mothers. But most important of all, since we here at Ursuline are children of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, the ring must distinguish a girl who proves herself worthy of this title, and who, in the eyes of our Heavenly Mother, strives always to be a True follower of Jesus Christ. And now that the long awaited moment has drawn near, and our cherished hopes are about to be realized, we ask of you, who have helped fulfill them, a prayer to our Heavenly Father, so that having merited this reward we might continue to be deserving of this honor. . . . Ann Guenther '62 IT Right now you are probably saying to yourself, It is a very odd title for a composition. I wonder why she entitled it 'It '? And now you are as confused as I was when I finished planning this composition. Why did I choose to name this composition It ? Because that's what it's about - It ? But let's stop a while and examine this word and see if we can't clear things up a bit. When we look at this tiny word, we see it is composed of an I and a T, We know from out study of grammar that it can be a subject pronoun and an object pronoun. We know that it is the most common pronoun in use today. And this is the main reason I chose to write about it - because we use this word hundreds of times a day and thousands of times a week, but can anyone tell me just what does this tiny word mean? Oh, I know it takes the place of a noun, but just what does it mean when it's used to mean something that isn't a noun? Such as It is necessary to be careful while driving, or 'It behooves you to study, or even, You're gonna catch it if you don't behave yourself. What is it ? Can mean what is that thing? of what is the matter ? or ever so many other things. But all this does not tell me what it means. What is It? What does it mean? Somebody please help me before I go mad trying to figure Q out! H E L P! -1- Nedra Pezold '62 YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT DAY 11961 Mayor Schiro had declared November 13th - 19th as Government Appreciation Week. On Tuesday I had both the privilege and pleasure of representing Ursuline in a special Youth in Government Day program, sponsored by the members fthe Optimist Tb in New Orleans. The program consisted of thirty-three re- presentatives from the various public and private schools in the city. The day began at 8:30 Tuesday morn- ing when we met in the council chamber of City Hall. The first activity was the appointment of the different offices in city government. This was done by picking names from a hat. The first name would be mayor for a day, the second councilman-at-large, and right on down the line until we had all been assigned to the duties of some particular office. Mine was the second name chosen. I was councilman-at-large, to take the place of the city official, Councilman Hickey. After all the names had been picked, our first job was to run our own mock council meeting . The real city councilmen stood behind our chairs and prompted us as when to make motions, push buttons for voting, etc. This was all ex- tremely exciting, especially the fact that we could introduce any new subject for discussion that we thought would help improve the city's government. After this meeting adjourned, we were taken on a tour of City Hall and were able to go to the office of the particular official whose duties we were taking. I was taken to the joint office of Councilman Hickey and Councilman Comiskey. Here we met the secretaries of both men who showed us around the office and explained the various transactions going on that particular day. We saw the city budget and other reports submitted to the administration. For the next hour, we were free to do whateverwe wanted. I think that the most interesting part of the day was our being present at an actual council meeting, conducted, of course, by the real city officials. After this we were taken to the Gold Room of the Roosevelt Hotel where we were honored at a luncheon. Among the guests present were Monsignor Caillouet, Mayor Schiro, the officers and members of the Optimist Club, and the guest speaker, Father Doyle, Dean of Loyola University. After the meal, Mayor Schiro pre- sented each participant in Youth in Government Day within a gold key to the city, a certificate of merit, :min engraved pen and pencil set. This brought a most enjoy- able and educational day to an end. Francine Cicero '62 SPRING AND SONG Sweetly singing, The meadow lark flies o'er the fields, And the wild flowers sharpen and brighten their colors As she tells them it is spring. Judy Fife, '64