Valdosta State University - Pinecone Yearbook (Valdosta, GA)

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even when the members of that class are g'ray haired, and their faces w1'inkled f1'om old ag'e, not one of them can look back and detect anything' at all funny about Mr. VVood's !Xrithmetic. That was an adventure which none but those who have ex- perienced it can appreciate. Our troubles and sorrows, however, we1'e not sufficient to deprive us of our pep, for on Field Day the lillack and Gold were triumphant, and we marched from the field with the coveted banner waving' proudly. lfurthermore, we CIIIIIOSIL won the loving' cup in the basket ball tournament. ln fact, we came so very near winning' it that it still makes us ill to even think of it. Toward the end of the year, something' happened which caused us both joy and reg1'et. It was announced that the time had come for the college to take the next step in its development, and add two more years to its Cl1I'1'lC1llUl1l, offering' llache- lor's degrees to its graduates. This was a source of joy to us in that we were glad to see the colleg'e moving' forward, making' it possible for us to have, eventually, a de- g'ree conferred upon us. At the same time, however, we were naturally a little dis- tressed, for who could be satisfied with a diploma when there was a degree a little further on? VVhen we returned the next fall our class munbe1'ed forty-three. This was the year we had looked forward to being' called Seniors, but alas! our names had to be chang'ed. lt was suggested that we be called Sophomores, because in reality that was what we were-yet, that would never do. To change from Juniors to Sophomores was surely g'oing' backward instead of TOl'XY2ll'Cl. So, in order to salve our vanity, we were called Second Year Students. Later on in the year, however, we had become so 1'econciled to the new o1'der of thing's, that all of us voted to be called Sophomores. That yea1', instead of Math we had something' equally as bad. XVe found our- selves laboring' unceasingly over lesson plans. Of course we had made them the year before, but now it was different, because they had to be taug'ht to real children in the T1'aining' School. Even the fact that we always had the valuable guidance of a critic teacher throughout our nervously taught lessons. failed to dec1'ease our ter1'or con- cerning' this particular phase of wo1'k. This. together with the thesis we had to w1'ite before g'raduation, was the greatest ditliculty we had to face. Again, howeve1', we preserved our buoyant spirit, and not only won the Field Day llanner for the second time, but actually received the loving' cup which we had felt so sure of the year before. Commencement time came, and it was then that our class so greatly decreased. All of us 1'eceived our normal diplomas, and since the whole class ente1'ed with the exception of taking' the two year cou1'se, the majority of them left us and went out as teachers. There we1'e a few of us, however, that were still haunted by visions of that deg'ree. Wle, too, were tempted to bid farewell to our college career and enter the teaching profession. but something seemed to hold us back. 31

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. P I N E C ON e l-listory of the Senior Class t-Uzsizcivs T is a well-known fact that knowledge deepens appreciation. In other words, the more we know of a thing, the more we are able to appreciate it. Oftentimes a most common-place object may be a very cherished possession, just because of an interesting' bit of history it happens to have. For that reason, we feel that in order to fully appreciate our Senior class, one must know something of its his- tory. -Xnd not only for that reason alone. but for cultural reasons as well, for who could possibly claim to be a well-informed, cultured citizen and know nothing of our history? Ignorance concerning' European or .Xmerican history might be for- given, but to be unacquainted with facts concerning our past would be unparclon- able. ' liven a historian couldn't do justice to a class of our kind in such a small space, but, nevertheless, a brief summary of the outstanding events may be given. Diedrich linickerbocker, in giving' the history of New York, starts with the be- ginning' of the world, for, according' to his way of thinking, had the world not begun, there could have been no New York. Likewise, we must begin the history of our class with the beginning of the college, for have we not had girls in our class who began in the training school the year the college opened? llowever, since our space is limited, we shall begin with the lireshman class, that being possibly the most logi- cal point. ln September, 1921, we began our college career with a roll of fifty-three. To one unacquainted with the ups and downs of our class. it is sure to seem unusual that the size of our class has so greatly diminished during' the four years, but when the truth is known, there is nothing' queer about it after all. Our 1921-22 class has just been referred to as lfreshman, and so it was, in reality. Yet, it would have been a grave offense to have addressed us as such at that time. Instead of lfreshmen, we were called juniors, and we carried with us the feeling' that one more year would completely tinish our education, and prepare us to face the world undaunted. This, however, was no fault of ours, for at that time we had not been taken into the contidence of the college officials, and therefore knew nothing' of the plans that were being' made. To our minds, that diploma was the goal-it was the ideal for which we were striving, for our minds failed to con- ceive of anything' better and higher than a normal diploma. And so we labored away, having' what we considered many serious difficulties-the worst of which was .Xrithmetic under the sympathetic guidance of Mr. Nlfood. lrYhen looked back upon, after a lapse of three years, our trials at that time seem trivial: in fact, the majority of them now appear quite humorous, but one would be perfectly safe in saying that 2 X is ogg 50

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ln September, l9Z3. there were thirteen of us on hand to begin our Junior year. Une of this number was a new-comer to our group. Miss Grace Ruie, who heard of our fame from afar. came to us as a graduate of Centenary College. Cleveland. Tennessee. Miss XYillie Mae Mathews, one of our former normal graduates. was also added to our group. lt was rather discouraging to us to receive news of the unusual salaries that our former classmates were receiving. and of the vast amount of pleasure con- nected with their work. but. nevertheless. we kept our degree in mind and steadily plodded onward. XYe were at least enjoying one novelty-that of being out of uniform. This was such an unusual experience that for the tirst few weeks we felt so much like visitors that it was difhcult for us to settle down to work. .Xs for class activities. we accomplished very little. There was such a vast de- crease in the number of our class that we felt rather helpless. so we had to take the part of spectators. even in the activities in which we had played such an important part during the preceding years. .Xnd now our Senior year-the most interesting of all! To be called Seniors at last-real. true. bona tide. honest-tti-goodness Seniors-is enough in itself to make this year memorable to us. Hur class this year lost a few more members. but we had a valuable addition. livelyn llrown. who has been in our midst several years. but who, because of an irregular schedule. was not really one of us until this year. ln looking back over this year's work. we see several events which have made our Senior year the best of all our college years. but there is one achievement which overshadows all the rest. and that is the publication of the tirst annual. Even though this piece of work has meant a little extra work. it has meant an even greater joy. and the pride that we take in it now is sure to deepen as the years go by. .Xnd so, after the various changes. trials, joys, pleasures and troubles that our class has undergone. there are ten of us left to tell the tale. Though there were many ups and downs. there were many more ups than downs: and the joys that we are now experiencing from the fact that our race is nearly run. by far surpass any of the troubles that we may have had along the way. Our only regret is that our former classmates who failed to see the whole thing through, cannot be here to re- ceive with us the lottg-loolierl-for and well earned l1achelor's degree. lit-vm Rom-iksox. 32