Page Six
THE SALEM I TE
November 15. 1957
Summerell Learns That
Differences In Culture
May Hinder Friendship
iiclore I left home in June to
stiend summer school at Winthrop
College I had no idea who my
roommate would be. It was, of
course, a surprise to learn, when I
signed in, that I would be living
for nine weeks with Catherine Beh
from Formosa. Contrary to the
expressed opinion of other girls, I
welcomed this as a unique oppor
tunity and determined to know and
understand this foreign girl. But
the goal I set for myself turned
out to be not quite as simple as I
had imagined. It did not take long
to find out that I was dealing, not
with a mere difference in language,
hut with an entirely different cul
ture, indeed, a different world from
my own.
My first meeting with Cathy was
encouraging. She was pleasant,
courteous, and friendly, talking
easily with my mother and me.
Intelligence and good breeding were
obvious from the beginning; she
was definitely from a family well
above the average. f had high
liopes for establishing a firm and
intimate friendship.
r.ut my hopes were whittled down
daily as I came to realize that she
liad an underlying reserve almost
iuipossible to penetrate. In an ef
fort to become acquainted with
Cathy, I plyed her with questions
.about her family, her home, her
pievious' college years. She met
iiiy questions with the shortest
answers possible, not as though she
were reluctant to talk, but rather
as though she found short answers
sufficient. 1 once heard her tell
someone that her name in Chinese,
Ming-Ann, meant quiet, and that
in China, parents gave a child the
name of a characteristic they wish
him to develop. Cathy fully lived
Sip to her name.
One thing that puzzled me about
Cathy was the fact that she seemed
to know nothing about straighten
ing a room or taking care of her
dothes. She was not untidy; she
st'f.med instead to be totally un
used to any kind of housework.
She tried to make hei bed in the
morning, but this consisted of
•«>rely pulling the top covers
loosely over the pillow. There was
no order in the way she kept
things in her chest of drawers.
Instead of folding her clothes to
put them away, she would open
just any drawer and stuff her
clothes in. I tried to ask her tact
fully if Chinese girls generally help
aJrcumd their homes, She explained
t(i.\t her family had always had a
maid for housework and laundry
and. a “cooker.” Even her mother
had never learned to cook.
F.,'forts to include Cathy in my
own activities were usually un
successful. She would not walk a
few short blocks up town in the
hot sun, nor go to the library in
the rain. When 1 invited her to
visit me for a weekend, she de
clined because she did not want to
be too tired to study when she
came back to school. Most of this
was due to her delicate constitu
tion ; she was tiny and fragile,
without much energy. But I real
ized, too, that she was unused to
the hurried pace of Americans, who
seldom let weather or loss of sleep
stand in the way of their plans.
At the end of summer school I
did not feel that I had fully reach
ed my goal. I did not really know
Cathy and feel close to her, as I
would have liked, but I did under
stand her, at least in part. Now I
realize that I had wrongly expected
her to act like an American girl
instead of a Chinese girl. A few
short months in the United States
could not undo twenty years of
training for life in a very difficult
land.
Mademoiselle
Contest Is
Open To All
Mademoiselle Magazine has be
gun its campaign for twenty guest
editors for its 1957-58 Cqllege
Board.
The twenty winners of the con
test will illustrate and edit the Au
gust, 1958 College issue.
Mademoiselle is looking for a girl
to be editor-in-chief and for ad
ditional staff members to serve as
fashion and merchandising editor.s,
to do art work, to promote the
magazine and handle advertising,
to write editorials, features, and
critical -reviews.
There are definite projects that a
student may choose in her field of
interest. These must be submitted
by November 30.
The winners will have a salaried
month in New York where they
will edit the College Issue. During
this time, they will meet prominent
authors, editors and designers.
New York.
Five Seniors
Are Chosen
(Continued from Page One)
ley is editor of Sights and Insight*.
Shirley’s other activities include
being president of the Freshman
class, serving as president of Cle-
well, and being a member of the
Student Government, Besides her
annual work, she is also active this
year in the President’s Forum, the
Nominating Committee, and the
F. T. A.
An English major from Coral
Gables, Fla., Martha Jarvis has
done outstanding work at Salem.
She was a student at the Univer
sity of Oslo on the Strong Scholar
ship and has been on the Presidents
Forum and the Orientation Com
mittee. This year, Martha is editor
of the Salemite.
Martha has also had roles in
Pierrette plays and been treasurer
of the IRS. She directed last year’s
May Day pageant and plans to do
this again this year. She is also
a member of FTA. In the field of
academic honors, Martha has earn
ed membership in Phi Alpha Theta
and the Honor Society. She is the
Salemite’* representative on the
Lecture Series.
Nollncr Morrissett from Lynch
burg, Va., is a member of Stee
Gee. She was on the May Court,
a Chapel Marshal and past presi
dent of Sisters Dorm, Nollner is
majoring in Sociology-Economics.
This year Nollner is Business
Manager of the Sight* and Insights
and Treasurer of the May Day
Committee. She is also currently
active in the FTA and IRS.
Lynn .Hamrick, a voice major
from Winston-Salem is president
of the Pierrettes. Last year she
received the first Pierrot Award
for her outstanding work with the
Pierrettes. Lynn was a scholarship
student at the University of Oslo
last summer, a past member of
IRS and is Assistant Director of
the Choral Ensemble this year.
President of the Student Govern
ment and majoring in Religion is
Mary Curtis Wrike from Graham,
N. C. Curt is a Pierrette, past
secretary of Stee Gee, Y Council
and past treasurer of A. A.
In her capacity of President of
the Student Body, Mary Curtis is
also head of the Nominating Com
mittee and the Orientation Com
mittee. She is also the Student
Body representative on all official
committees. Mary Curtis has
worked, in some way, for almost
every organization on campus.
COME SEE OUR NEW COLLECTION
OF RECORDS
SALEM BOOK STORE
RECORDS FOR ALL MOODS
Smith’s Art
Is Shown
This Week
The painting exhibited in Main
Hall this week is a landscape by
Elizabeth Smith done in oils on
cardboard. The building in the
picture is the science building.
Elizabeth painted the picture in art
lab during the last week of October.
To quote her, “It was an experi
ment in the use of bright colors.”
Elizabeth is a junior this year
and is majoring in art and minoring
in French. After graduation she
plans to do work at Richmond Pro
fessional Institute preparatory to
going into commercial art.
New Courses
Are Offered
Registration for second semester
courses begin the week of Novem
ber 20th-27th.
A nice variety of electives is
being offered.
In economics, there’s Personal
Finance. In English, there’s Eng
lish Drama to 1800, Victorian Era
the English Novel, 1860 to I945’
Students interested in history might
take Modern Political Thought and
Government, United States in
World Affairs, or Russia, 1850 to
Present. There are many more
possibilities. Why not take a look
at the list of courses for the se
cond semester posted on the bulle
tin board in Main Hall.
News -Briefs
Thanksgiving holidays begin
Wednesday, November 27, at 1:00
p.m. and end at 8:30 a.m., Monday,
December 2, Students are reminded
that all unexcused, absences on
November 26 and 27 and December
2 and 3 will be counted as double
cuts.
The Humanities Club will meet
Monday night at 7:30 in the apart
ment ’of George Arnold, a local
artist. The topic for the evening
will be Philosophy. Any students
interested in attending should be
at the Day Student Center at 7:15.
Coffee will be served.
College man’s
best friend
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