St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-06-05
Written for the Caledonian.
College Life. Mo. 2.

1t is with feeling somewhat akin to
awe that il Freshman enters upon his
college course. His ideal of student
life is imperfectly formed and i'll the
expectation of its realization il presents
abundant food for his imagination.
Perchance he has heard of the once
customary doingS of wicked Sophie
mores. Visions of midnight deSccit>
upon the poor Fresh. rumors of ''smok
ing-out," speech making,' and ''duck-
ings." fit through his brain and every
toot of Il Sophomore horn by night
causes an involuntary start. But the
old-time custom of ''haZing is fast dying
out in our colleges and the dark lantern
and mask of the Sophomore are things
of the past. The custom at the best is
barbarous and unfair and III but few
instances can he justified.
1t is proverbial that ii Freshman can
he distinguished as far as he can he
seen. and farther too Ina>much IL it
has been proved beyond doubt that he
impartS Il color to the air in which he
moves. we will not attempt to disap-
prove the above. The Freshmen are
always the recipients of numerous jokes
in their search for rooms and board.
The Presidents and Professors houses
are frequently pointed ont hy the will
ing Sophomore to the innocent Youth
It's excellent boarding houses. and if Il
pail of water happens to incline nom
the perpendicular upon the un>uspcct
ing Freshman Us he stands beneath the
windows of Il dlormitory. all must he
taken in good grace. Many events hap
pen which cause one to realize that he
is nothing but "Frcshie." but they
soon pass away ar are unn0ticed.
Class feeling is quickly aroused and
every contest with the ''Sophs serves
to strengthen it. The more of it the
personal enmitieS.
The first morning in Chapel is apt to
be an eventtul one. our only advice
iS-dont enter the wrong door else some
Soph will kindly (?) direct You /" the
right one.
Till within Il few years both morning
and evening prayers were held i'll our
college. but now the only religious ser
vice which is made obligatory during
the week consists of an exercise of
about fifteen minutes in the morning ut
eight o'clock. The President uliciaic>
and it is in fact almost the only occasion
: when he appears Ia all the students
Quite recently in Harvard College.
Chapel has been given up and :" fan
, the experiment is considered il Success
But much can he said in favor of it,
continuance and we hardly think that
our distinctively religious colleges will
ever discontinue it.
: IomeSiclness and loneliness rau>,
, the first few weeks to drag slowly along
, but acquaintance are rapidly made and
, soon the daily routine will be an old
story. and then commences the rea
!, work of the course. The rapidity will
, which the days and weeks glide along
1 can scarcely he conceived. and the fouu
f happiest and pleasanteSt of our lives
soon fade away into the past.
Three recitations Il day. Il lecture an,
..RhetoricalS" as substitutes once
= week. make up our work. OF the sc YIN
. En-" which is one of the distinctive o
= our college, we will speak at anothc
! time. Wednesday and Saturday after
| moons are given to the students. Thus
= ones time is well filled out, but Will
e the student rests the point whether thu
e spare time outside of rccitations shall
a be employed profitably or not. 1t is =;
: disputed question whether the mctho,
y of spending nearly all of ones time il
: hard study or digging" is conduciv,
i of the most good, or to study simply
i enough to make good recitations, an'
r to pass the remaining spare time il
n reading, speaking and pcrchance writ
Ing. SOME bI the HTtittSl lilllltiS bl gu
z country are opponents of both systems
II To strike the golden mean betweel
Il them is difficult and there are doubt
: less comparatively few graduates VIII
e are perfectly satisfied fith the cours
It which they pursued i'll college. TIL
tendency may be. we acknOwle"g
O to study too little, but nothing bu
study is in many cases the worst of tn
two extremes. Correct habits of stud
and thought should undoubtedly b
e cultivated in order that the necessar
Is discipline may he acquired; but beyon
It this point it seems to lis that ones tim
= could not he more prottably spent tina
in studying history and literature an
e in desultory reading.
,f In some of our colleges superior facil
tiles exist for defamation and extern
o. pore speaking, and if one will faithful
Is spend portion of his time in pursuin
these branches we think much NOR
practical benefit will be gained than b
d too strict application to the classic.
n However labOrious our work may bt