(_Wellesley_)
_With an Introduction by_
_MARY EMMA WOOLLEY, LL. D._
_President of Mt. Holyoke College_
_New York Chicago Toronto_
_Fleming H. Revell Company_
_London and Edinburgh_
Copyright, 1911, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave.
Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street
_Inscribed
to
MARY EMMA WOOLLEY, LL. D._
_Introduction_
The school and college girl is an important factor in our life to-day.
Around her revolve all manner of educational schemes, to her are open
all kinds of educational opportunities. There was never an age in which
so much thought was expended upon her, or so much interest felt in her
development.
There are many articles written and many speeches delivered on the
responsibility of parents and teachers--it may not be amiss occasionally
to turn the shield and show that some of the responsibility rests upon
the girl herself. After all, she is the determining factor, for
buildings and equipment, courses and teachers accomplish little without
her coöperation.
It is difficult for the "new girl," whether in school or college, to
realize the extent to which the success of her school life depends upon
herself. In a new environment, surrounded by what seem to her
"multitudes" of new faces, obliged to meet larger demands under strange
and untried conditions, she is quite likely to go to the other extreme
and exaggerate her own insignificance. Sometimes she is fortunate enough
to have an older sister or friend to help her steer her bark through
these untried waters, but generally she must find her own bearings.
To such a girl, the wise hints in the chapters which follow this
introduction are invaluable, giving an insight into the meaning of
fair-play in the classroom as well as on the athletic field; the
relation between physical well-being and academic success; the
difference between the social life that is _re_-creative and that which
is "_nerves_-creative"; the significance of loyalty to the school and to
the home; the way in which school days determine to a large degree the
days that come after. These, and many other suggestions, wise and
forceful, I commend not only to the new girl, but also to the "old
girl" who would make her school and college days count for more both
while they last and as preparation for the work that is to follow.