Vassar College Digital Library
jhhorn
Edited Text
(Sept. 1900?
Vassar.
Dear People:-
The only way I shall have time to write is little bits in every spare moment. This morning we were assigned to our divisions. I am G. It's such a shame, Cora Ik Lucile and most of the girls I know are in F. Only Edith is with me. And I fancy she isn't much of a worker. It's a very small division. We will have to recite every day, and I didn't see but one girl in it that looked particularly nice. I imagine we will have high old times in the math, class. We have Miss Richardson and she is the one who looses her temper so frightfully when a girl girl doesn't know the things and fires chock at them. Some of the girls looked awfully stupid, but of course you can't tell. It will be very exciting as long as she doesn't throw any thing at me. Dr. Thelberg met us in Hygiene. She is the College doctor and seems awfully nice.
Wed. have been in all the classes the profs seem nice. I don't know that
you would care to hear their names. I hope never to flunk so absolutely
and entirely as I did yesterday in Latin. She gave up some frightful
sentences to turn into lat and I couldn't think of more than 9 or 10 of the
word and some of those I didn't get right After the first sentence I had to give up. I simply couldnt think of any more of the words. Why I nearly expired. We have Miss Dutton in Lat She seems very nice. But if she keeps on with prose, I don't know what ever will become of me. In English we have a Mies Hooker, a new person, seems very young and pleasant. But I wish you could see the report we have to make out. I guess I'll buy one and send it to you. How on earth we are to answer the questions is a problem Fancy all the books you have read. Every single one she says they want from Mother Goose up. Every one is to be answered most literally and minutly. And in tomorrow. You can't think what a difference it makes not having studied for so long. I don't know how to go to work. I expect I shall either be dead or dropped by Christmas. But don't be disturbed this is all talk. W e go out on long walks (there a lovely places around here & get apples. 1 have found a tree of snow apples) and go to bed very early. But of course real work hasn't begun yet. There are some things I want you to send. Bilder aus den deutchen bergangenheit Freytag. & Eng, Ger. Dictionary- And for mercy sake a little Eng. dictionary. How I came away with out one I don't see. And my spelling is getting worse every day. I am so frightened I don't dare write a single word. Then I want. Mamma that tea cloth with the bluet you know, and also I small laundry bag for my napkins and things that are free or else they won't count so. We have hunted up Olive Thurston and she's awfully nice. She lives in the tower and we had such a time finding it. We went all over the 4 and 5th floors before at last reaching it. So many freshmen are off the campus that we can't get acquainted at all and I don't see how we are going to elect officers and "eich like". More then 2/3 of the class are in hoarding houses. Isn't that a shame? I am so glad we aren't. I forgot to say anything about my cold because I hadn't thought of it since I left New Haven I seems to have disappeared. Papa letter left New Haven 5 P.M. Sept 23 & reached Poughkeepsie 7 A.M. Sept 24. I got it some time during the morning. They haven't<0e*"begun delivering the mail to the rooms yet. So you don't get it till you call for it and there's always a long line waiting. It seems as if we had been here years and ought to have got much more done and much more acquainted. Cora knows so many people around in different places. It's so nice. Some body is introduced from a certain city and Cora immediately says "oh I know some girls from there. Do you know so and so, and so and so." And it turns out their are the best friends of the other girl so they feel acquainted immediately. Summer resorts are quite an institution I think.
Oh my dear people I have just come from the 2nd math, class. We began work this morning. We have no text books. We make up our one definitions in class and prove the theorems and then copy them into our notebooks. It is awful. After she has screwed the thing out of us the writes it on the board simply flying along and then suddenly before you are done writing as fast as you can and before you have had any time to think what you have been writing she pops on you and asks you a question which, why we have just had a something or other that it's based on. Oh my. Miss Ellery send love. I thought she looked rather haggered the first day she met her classes.
lots of love
Ruth.
I forgot my napkin ring
(Ruth Adams, '04