The Washington times., 1936-12-04
TAYLOR LONELY
IN FIRST DAYS
AT COLLEGE
BY LYDIA CALVERT
CHAPTER IL


College-at first.
Striding down the California
campus, the leafy palms, the
drenching sun couldn't pierce the
gloom in Robert Taylor's young
heart.
He was a young upstart from
Nebraska. He had no friends. He
was lonely.
1t was as if a terrifically black
cloud engulfed him. He didn't
+ know that if he had doubled up
his fist and punched a hole in the
wall of blackness he would have
found it thin. On the other side
was the dazzling brilliance of his
future like an aurora boreaIlS,
vivid as a rainbow.
He almost punched something a
couple of times-but it wasn't the
wall Of his depression. 1t was the
smart guys who called him the
shiek." He controlled himself, but
the monicker ranked.
Big Fish
At Doane it had been different.
There he was big fish in little
pond. Everyone knew him and
liked him. His talents had been
recognized. He wrote letters home
hiding the hurt in his heart. He
was too proud to tell them the
truth and he was also too SenSl-
tive to take the initiative in max
ing advances to strangers.
On one of his fierce walks
across the campus with his heart
weighed down with misery, he en-
countered a member of the faculty.
DR.. Robert Ross.
He was a professor of pSychol-
ogy and the set of the boys shoul-
ders as he strode along the path,
the look of distress on the hand
some face made the teacher stop.
Boy Laughs
He asked Robert his name. They
talked and in the course Of the
conversation Robert admitted he
was lonely and little discouraged.
Prof. Ross remarked shrewdly:
''NOt thinking of quitting; are
you?"
The boy laughed pleasantly but
the muscles of his lean jaws
frightened.
81 hadn't thought Of that, sir.
But / wouldn't do it If I had.
You can't run out on a Situa-
ton because it's bad. You have
to see it through, don't you
agree, Sir?"
The professor nodded and the
boys stock rose appreciably in his
estimation then and there. He
replied:
"That's sensible reasoning.
Stick it out"
"PrOf. Ross was a brick" says
Bob now with real warmth. "He
really helped me out of an awful
rut. After few talks with him
things began to get all right"
Turns to Oratory
Soon oratory contests took the
attention of the college wags and
cutups and they let Bob alone.
Quietly he entered one of these
competitions. Suddenly "the
young upstart from Nebraska"
was holding them spellbound with
his oratory, the beautiful tones
of his voice, his poise. He pro-
duced his cello and won them
again.
Life suddenly became very beau
tiful again. California was swell.
His classmates were tops. He
wrote gay letters home to his fam
lily telling them what a swell col
lege Pomona was.
Now with peaceful mind he
once moro considered the future.
No course had yet presented itself
to him. He was still going on
with his music and he and some
classmates had formed a quartet
which was very popular on the
campus, but somehow a musical
career didn't seem the thing. Tay-
lor says:
II had given up the idea of
becoming doctor. sort of
figured that 1 could never be
as good one as dad. I thought
more of going into the CONNER.
cial wOrld-which was really
about the only thing left that
I hadn't considered, at that
point"
STAGE BECKONS
Again the stage beckoned. And
now the bug took a good bite. He
began to consider the possibility
of q stage career-not movies.
Act11al1v with IInll,rurood aar