Worcester State University - Oak Leaf Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 26 text:

Class of ’48 As we, the class of 1948, face an uncertain and individual future it is well that we pause briefly to remember and rejoice in the four years which we have spent together as a class. Never again shall we be together in quite the same unity of spirit and purpose. In the years that are to come we shall re- member these years: their fun, their sorrow; their dances, their exams; their joyous be- ginning and their dignified end. With fond remembrance of the past and bright anticipation of the future, we, the class of 1948, write this our history, that those who come after us may catch some- thing of the spirit of comradeship and com- mon striving which have made these four years memorable. “We Are The Freshmen, We Like The Sophomores” Singing our way into the first initiation week, the class of 1948 became recognized as a vital part of the college. It was on September 12, 1944 that we first entered S. T. C.; and soon after that we were braid- ing our hair and proving to the Sophomores and all upperclassmen and faculty that we were good sports as well as clever parody writers. When the inevitable Freshman exams were administered, we proved that we were good scholars as well. At Christmas time we gave a party for the faculty and honor- ed them with carefully selected gifts and original poems. March and St. Patrick’s Day found the class of ’48 again expressing their wit and artistic talents in a gala dance that will be remembered for shamrocks, tiny clay pipes, and Irish jigs. Not content with remaining silent for long, the class planned a Sing Song assembly for the spring with original parodies which were to become traditional with the classes who sang them. During our first year at S. T. C., the assembly hall had echoed to the voices of more than one of our class who took part in chapel programs. At the beginning of that first summer we lost our only man, Norbert Bernstein, to the U. S. Army. We sent him off with a dinner party and our best wishes for the future. In September we were to return a com- pletely feminine class. “We Strolled The Halls As Strangers, At S. T. C. In September” But that is all over now. As Sophomores we set about initiating the new Freshmen class into the mysteries of our success in college, and in giving seasoned advice about how to pass Freshman History and Biology courses. On Sophomore Day we presented one of the special musical assemblies for which we were becoming famous. More of

Page 25 text:

Mary C. Walsh Omniscient and omnipo- tent . . . fearless . . . vocifer- ous and dramatic . . . staunch comrade. Class President 1, 2, 3, 4; Social Com- mittee 1, 2, 3, 4; Debating Club 1; I. R. C. 2, 3, Secretary 3; Music Appre- ciation Club 4; Newman Club 1, 2, 3, 4 64 Warner Street Hudson, Massachusetts CLASS OF 1948

Page 27 text:

our own sparkling brand of original songs bewailed the plight of the now scholarly Sophomore class. In December we went on a historic tour of Boston with Dr. Winslow. We scaled Bunker Hill in a Consolidated bus and ab- sorbed the Harvard museums in one after- noon. After a morning at Wayside Inn and several other museums and historical sites, we felt quite surfeited with culture. This year our amazing talents for leader- ship and scholarship began to show even more prominently as we easily mast ered the Sophomore exams and as more and more names of our class began to appear in execu- tive offices and on all important college committees. The high point of this year was the brilliant, original, and typically class of ’48 version of the beloved fairy tale, Cin- derella. We had scarcely recovered from the com- pliments on this success, when the May Prom brought more compliments our way. Remember the spring flowers and many colored balloons we never thought we’d get blown up? A party at Dr. Winslow’s follow- ed; and before we knew it another year had slipped merrily away. The sand in our col- lege hourglass was half gone. “Long Ago When We Were Freshmen, Young of Heart and Gay Were We” But that time was past, and we greeted our upper classmen status with an erudite and unique assembly on progressive educa- tion. We glorified the modern trends and added some ideas of our own to the pedagog- ical lexicon. At midyears the Elementaries left to conquer the elementary school pop- ulation with their theories of motivation, unit method, and the extrinsic approach. The Secondaries set themselves the task of keeping the lounge from becoming too lonely and of learning to talk in true pedagogical jargon themselves when the prodigal elemen- taries came back on Friday. This year we again became coed. The class gained three veterans for their very own, and the school gained our new Presi- dent Sullivan. The class of ’48 again had a masculine point of view mixed with the purely feminine. The Junior Prom that year was a thing of beauty in blue and silver. It became the more memorable when that same evening A1 became the father of the first class baby, and we took an added interest in the younger generation. It was that spring that a group of sleepy but intellectually curious Secondaries left Worcester at 3 A.M. for the great city of New York. They arrived in time to observe the New York school system at work and then do the usual sight-seeing. The fact that it poured rain all during their visit did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm. Our year ended with the arrival of class rings and a surprised realization that the time was fast approaching when we should become in truth one of that mystical host called Seniors. “Service Free and Gladly Given, This Be Our Goal” Senior day and our spotlighted memory book in blue and gold as we donned our caps and gowns made us realize that at last we had arrived. The Secondaries followed the trail blazed by their Elementary friends to the school rooms of Worcester and sur- rounding towns. It was a very wise and experienced group of teachers who now dis- cussed evaluation and adolescent psychology in the lounge. Time was fast running out. Yearbook copy was written and rewritten, publishers interviewed and reinterviewed, class meet- ings called and recalled. February brought National Teacher exams, superintendents and contracts, and the class together again. Before we were fully aware of it, the long awaited week had come. Class Day, Bac- calaureate, the Senior Prom, and that tan- gible climax ... a blue-bound B.S. degree. It is impossible for so formal a document as a history to record all the individual fun, the extra-curricular learnings, and the accumulated accomplishment of four years. So, to you each as individuals in the class of 1948, I now give the unwritten parts of this history to be held in bright memory forever. Clara M. Saunders, Class Historian