Normal, IL

1952

My sister, 3 years older than I, had gone to DePauw University. I had always followed in her footsteps and had felt somewhat overshadowed by her in school. She was an excellent student, working very hard, and was well respected for her achievements. She had also received several high honors during her senior year. She received both the American Legion award and the DAR award. I think she was third in her class. By the time I started thinking about going to college, she was already doing well at DePauw. She had joined the sorority Delta Gamma, and was active in several campus groups, including the YMCA and the Methodist Student group. Sometime during her junior year, she was engaged to Bill White, who was several years ahead of her at DePauw. That was my senior year of high school. Because of always feeling the competition with my sister, I wanted to go to a different college. No one from my class applied to a university outside of the midwest. We just didn't know about other places, and our advisors didn't give us information. Our advisors also didn't suggest that girls take the science and math courses that might have qualified us for careers in those fields The colleges that I settled on were Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, the University of Iowa in Ames, and DePauw. I knew no one that had gone to Bucknell, but it sounded interesting, and I was accepted there. My cousins, Rich and Bill Orr, were both at the University of Iowa, and I spent a weekend with them there. I liked it. I also spent a weekend at DePauw. A friend from Bloomington, Julie Kiesselbach, was interested in DePauw too. Her father had a small plane, so he flew us to DePauw for the weekend. We had dates for a dance and were treated very well all weekend. It was the first time I had been in a plane, so that made the weekend extra exciting. It came down to a weekend decision, and my parents didn't interfere. I decided to go to DePauw after all. I can't remember why. Julie also decided to go there, and we would later become sorority sisters. Several other girls from my graduating class also went to DePauw, but they weren't my best friends. Throughout high school there were 6 of us who were best friends: Sarah Gipson, Sue Danenberger, Ann Mathis, Rowena Green, Janet Tomlinson, and I. I can best remember the six of us sitting in a circle on the floor of the gym for lunch, since there was no lunchroom. That would never happen now, with all our emphasis on cleanliness. After everyone had eaten lunch, someone cleaned up, and then set up a volleyball net. We played volleyball until afternoon classes started.