What a difference 10 years makes...
For some reason, my sister and I were reminiscing yesterday morning (via cell phone) about our college years. She's ten years younger than I am (though we both stopped having birthdays at 39, so we are now officially twins...), and she went to school in the Old South, so her experiences are a bit different than mine at SEMO.
I especially laugh at her generation's protest involvement. I think a group of students marched on one of the administration buildings and demanded later curfews - or some such foolishness. We would NEVER have done such an unruly thing! It wouldn't have occured to us, having grown up in the calm Eisenhower years of the 50's and having such role models as Marge Cleaver... I look at the old photos and marvel at how NEAT everyone was, while my sister's generation looked like something the cat dragged in...
There were many restrictions on students "back in the day." Girls were especially regulated by the social structure. The dress code did not allow us to wear pants to class - We could wear jeans, shorts or "pedal pushers" only after 4 p.m., and since there were no evening classes (that I remember), that meant no pants in class.
My sister's southern university, Troy State in Alabama, went even farther: Though girls on her campus were allowed to wear jeans and tee shirts to class, they had to live in campus housing, and they had a nine p.m. curfew on week nights. The boys, of course, could live anywhere they chose and could be out all night. The university didn't seem to care what they did, as long as it did NOT involve the girls! I think we know what THAT was intended to prevent...
At my dorm, the front door was the only way in, and it was locked by the dorm mother at precisely 10 p.m. If we were late, we had to ring the bell, which brought everyone to the stair landing to look down and see who it was, amid whispers and giggles.
I suspect that my sister and her classmates were quite familiar with that rather unwashed segment of society known as "hippies;" whereas my generation had only a stray, occasional "Beatnik," many of which seemed to have an interest in the theatre crowd. I was never allowed to consort with that creative group of unconventional people, since I had already formed an alliance with my future husband, a person firmly grounded in reality and ungiven to acts of spontaneity.
In looking back over those ancient years, I feel as if I'm writing about another person... That foolish young girl can't be me...
I fully expect my sister to log on to this blog, from her distant location 250 miles to the west, where she will hopefully fill in the gaps that I've left out. My mind will need jogging to remember more details.
The rest of you fellow bloggers can feel free to jump in with your own memories of "How it was in the 'Old Days'"! Give me some time, and I may just come up with an old photo!!
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As for Woodstock, I'll let my sister tell you that story - as soon as she wakes up and gets on the blog... As I understand it, she had a chance to go, but our dad had a COW!!! She did NOT go! To say that Daddy was from the old school was putting it mildly. Wouldn't let me date Malden Airbase guys and wouldn't let my sister go to Woodstock! Just think of all the wonderful experiences we missed!
I had high school classes in the junior high, because we were overcrowded in the high school. It was particularly gauling to have to put up with his foolishness. A grown man with a yardstick down on the floor measuring girls' skirt hems!
I've posted one of the pictures from my freshman year; in fact, I think Daddy took it. You can see the beautiful old dormitory in the background. I'm sure that the University Center has been much more practical and serviceable than the old dorm - but the dorm was a beautiful building! I wish I had taken more pictures! I just assumed it would be there forever.
Guys are allowed, only if they mind their manners and can add interesting comments about the past.
The country folks in this region loved to gather at someone's house and dance back in the 30's and 40's, from what I hear. I'm not really sure what kind of dances they did - if it was square dancing or some of the more "modern" ones. They do mention the home made ice cream, too.
One night I was about five minutes late getting back to the dorm, and the door, of course, was locked. I was too mortified to ring the bell, so I had my (future) husband take me to that house by the hospital, where I tried to get up the nerve to go ring THEIR doorbell to see if I could spend the night there.
Alas, I lacked the nerve for that, either - so we went back to Leming Hall, where I was then about 30 minutes late, and I took my medicine - rang the doorbell and suffered the humiliation of the whispers from the top of the stairs!!!