Long ago --back in 1962-63 my first year of Allegheny college I was really looking forward to being away from home. The Campus was coed but we lived in an all girls dorm, South Hall and had room mates assigned by the college. My roommate, Janet was also from the Pittsburgh area and we were similar but different, as outgoing and busy as I was she was more cautious and serious. I was a Spanish major and she French. I was experiencing the world around me and she was intent on studying and frequently reminded me that was our purpose. I'd burn the midnight oil and she was an early to bed and rise. She would dutifully hike to town even in the snow to Catholic mass while I announced that I could do just as well at the college chapel, which happened to be Methodist. This really gave Janet fits, "but we are Catholic, that's another reason they put us together..." Well, it was the start of my questioning many things, religion and faith among them. It was the 60's I would do many strange things, stretching my wings. Allegheny was a top notch recognized Eastern college with vast curriculum emphasizing Liberal Arts, Foreign Languages and pre-Medical. It was a big new world for me, first time away from home.
The two girls (well we were only 18) across the hall, Ann and Janice were from Maryland and about as opposite as us, Ann more earthy and Janice far more worldly. Most of the time the 4 of us experienced everything together but Janice and I seemed to push the edges more than Ann and Janet. Here in a January 1963 photo are the 4 of us girls headed somewhere for our girls night out. You can see that Janet standing next to me was an unwilling participant but at least weekly we would drag her along. I can almost hear her telling us that we had to be back on time. Ann was being particularly playful behind Janice' head. I suspect this was a Friday and who knows if we were movie bound or what. It was a way different time, we dressed to go out and to attend class; no jeans, no casual attire...so very different. In those snowy cold frigid winters with snow blowing off Lake Erie, we still were bound to wear skirts and dresses to classes, no slacks. That really was dumb.
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| 1963 Allegheny College Ann, Janice, Janet and me |
There were curfews at the dorm and often Janice or myself would find something to engage useven if it was only talking too long at the bidges across campus, but we'd miss the door locking so one of our roommates had to come down the side steps and let us in. The signal was pebbles tossed at the window. We must have been on the 4th, top floor because I noted girls on 4B on the back of this photos, that was our dorm floor and section and we even had a jingle we sang, that went something like, "we are the girls of Section 4 B---guys never get in our way, so give a great big cheer for the section of the year, Section 4 B we're OK..." It got to be easy to reach that upper level and then again, our roommates came to expect it, we couldn't toss pebbles too high or we'd risk racket and breaking windows ans that would have blown our cover. This was all in prehistoric times, no cell phones, not even phones in our rooms, there was one phone a pay phone down the hall, no cars on campus and none of us had one anyway and rules, OMG the rules. Here I was looking forward to freedom from Mom's iron hand and there I was in a girls dormitory which could have been run by nuns. It was strict. To make matters worse, the floor warden, who was a senior lived right next door to us and so although our room was near the stairway, she often had her door open and that challenged sneaking in and out. I suppose she knew the tricks and had been through this same freshman shenanigans. Janet my roommate was the least devious of all and would let me know that the next time I was late I could not count on her to sneak down the stairs and let me in, Janet always threatened to leave me outside till morning but she never did. And she was never late, ever. We are still friends, in touch with each other, she was Steve's Godmother, and is still teaching French at a private school and lives with her husband near DC. Don"t know what ever happened to Janice or Ann.
This is my first time back with Sepia after a busy time. To see other posts on the international community, click here http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/03/sepia-saturday-118-going-out.html http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/03/sepia-saturday-118-going-out.html
