Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-07-27
THE WOUlD-BE COLLEGE GIRL.
Where Shall She Go? To a CO. educat on
al Institution, IA Woman's College, or


al Institution. "a woman's College, or
annex"
1t is an immensely Significant fact that
among the hundreds of baCCalIurrLtn SER
mons which have been preached This last
month scarcely one raises a question as to
the worth of the so-caled higher cduca-
ton foC women, says the Philadelphia
Press. There are plenty of differences Of
opinion regarding the form OF that educa-
ton. There have even been sporadic
speeches against the present 'man-made"
college course, but in the main it is con-
ceded-and that cheerfully-tnat the col
lcge for girls revolutionist that 1t is IS
here to meet zeal need and 80 will corr
tinue to be here.
Ii is the college girl herself who cues
items now as she enters or prepares to
enter some one or other of the colleges
open to her. These questions all group
themselves under the big query: How
shall get the utmost good out of the time
and money | have to spend on my educa-
tion?"
These four years are to be fiiil of chances
for growth. | must improve them in every
W. y. they are to be very expensive yclrs.
] must get my moneys worth out of them
They are to ne ricn in scholarly opportu-
nifty. | must make eVcey study count.
Where would ! hest 60 10 college? How
shall | manage the expense? is it really
wise for me to go at all, since | can Ill
afCrd it? Shall | work hard o. give some
attention to social affairs?
These and dozens of other questions con-
front the college girl VINO desires to make
her course count for definite gain in life,
wisdom and character. The questions are
specific ones. Answers can ne but general
Yet while the individual who should at
tempt to cover these queries so as TO suit
all cases would fail utterly there are GER
tain principles which may be worth dis
cussing for the benefit of college girls
! 1t Is the custom to give students rood
advice as they leave their college halls II
has always seemed to me a pity that the
college girl should not be told ia time what
might lead hec' to get the greatest possili e
good cut of the rich four years of her COL
lego life. Some girls nstiuctvcly eXtract
from college the nourishmcnt they need,
but there are broad principles beneath COL
lege going and it is OF them that | an to
talk here.
Tho college girls first big query is:
Where? With what educat oval institution
shall allay myself?
/ Now, that | am to choose where shall
go?
/ The co-educdtional institution, the wo-
mans college and the annex" are the
| three year-cut possibilities that theoreti-
( ca'ly present themselves in answer to the
question where" As a mlttor of fact.
however, it is opportunity or propinaut y
rather than deliberate choice winch Gent
ually decides for girl her alma mater.
This is as it should he, for the girl, II
possible, should live at home
| When Fencion said that contact with
| Learning would he as fatal to wonanly
delicacy as contact with vice he, of course
grossly oVcCStated. as ii is quito natural
that monk of his time should on this
point. Yet in his stern saying there lies a
truth which is applicable to the practical
question of whether a girl should live at
home or go to college. 1. cannot be denied
/ that knocking about from one boarding
place to another across The yard tells on
girl physically and morally, at is seldom
does on hcT brother
From Is until % or % she needs her home
and her home needs her. There is some
thing terribly sad in the deso.ated homes
where sits alone woman who's daughter
/ is off being educated How this mother
misses the girls lively chat and the plea s.
ant running in Of the young crieods whom
she brought TO the house, The "only
daughter"
a Philadelphia girl. let us say, who, when
she might study at Bryn Mawr college and
stay with her mother. chooses to study a,
Smith college and he away from home
shows herself woefully selfish. No doubt
the mother smiles and says she is glad to
have her girl choose the college she pre-
fcrs, but this smile is peculiar to mothers
and often very often, hides a sigh.
And if it is true that her home needs
the girl it is no less true that the Cir
needs her home. the restcssness of the
modern woman may not intreluentlv he
traced to the Deregrinatng student days
when she lost the home sentiment. j. OF
a loss so iCr2parable in woman infinite
knowledge Of Greek, Latin and the higher
mathematics could not compensate.
Yet If the girls home he near no college
HI,
The objection TO collegiate co~educatior
must be dying out. if one may Judge from
the number of the "cl-ed" colleges. Al
oGe looks over statistics one finds that In
the forty five States OF the Union there
are no less than 500 colleges and universe.
ties in which young men and young wOmer
must work side by side ia the school OF
life. the better preparation both sexes get
for this state Of things the more able they
viii he to cope with it,
Other things being equal. comparative iy
few girls will choose co educational nsti
tutiuns, indsmuch as ordinarily the wo.
mans college presents far more allurins
prospects. Barnard, Evelyn and Radcliffe
are of the "arneX" type, though they
have outgrown their right 20 that title.
"Annexes." a. such, are so nearly obso
lcte to.d day as to call for no separate con
sideration. They class in naturally there
fore, with the fourteen distinctly first.
class women's colleges-only fortcen. ht
1t noted. though our country can boss
of no less than li3 of the female semin
sry" grade