High School Recollections

At the time I was a freshman in Gowrie there was a hazing process that the freshmen had to undergo at the hands of the sophomore class. I really don’t know if there was compulsion involved but everyone went through it, perhaps for reasons of peer pressure. The process was tacitly permitted by the school administrations, at least it was held in the school gymnasium. I don’t recall all the details but there was a gauntlet that the freshmen had to run, past sophomores equipped with wooden paddles. How long this practice lasted I don’t know — I have no recollection of attending it as a sophomore to get my licks in.

I have only a single recollection that comes to mind of my sophomore year. The Des Moines newspaper sponsored an essay content open to high school students. How this came to my attention I don’t know but I entered, perhaps Miss Amlie suggested it. The topic I chose was “Immunization” and somewhere in my collection of trivia I believe I have a pencil draft. I won third prize which was $5. I think a girl in Clarice’s class, Ruth Fridell, also entered and received Honorable Mention.

My father cashed my check, giving me at my request five silver dollars. I remember keeping them for some time. At this time, though my dad was by then working at the treasurer’s office in Fort Dodge, the family was still operating on a financial shoestring. So when my mother broke her glasses and was faced with the cost of a new lens, she broke down and cried. I was moved to offer her my five silver dollars to help defray the cost. She refused the offer, but I think she was somewhat heartened.

It was in my junior year that I took five subjects instead of the usual four. This was a prerogative normally reserved for senior, why I did it as a junior I can’t remember. I thibnk I took all the classes offered in the high school curriculum with the exception of home economics and the agriculture classes. The ag classes were taken only by a few boys, who had the intention of being farmers, but they would have been of interest to me although my expected career at that time was far from being clear in muy mind. However, the ag classes occupied 1-1/2 periods and conflicted with classes of more pertinence and interest to me so I didn’t attempt to take them.