Practical Education

There were four girls in the back seat of the bus on the way home for Thanksgiving. It was warm and stuffy and it took at least a half hour for them to discover they were all from Wellesley. Each was a freshman, two had absolute peaches for housemothers, and they all took a critical and philosophical view of courses.

"What I like about science," said the girl in the blue jumper, "is that if you learn what they tell you in class, and then put it down on an exam, you get an A. In something like English or history, you've got to put in more than they tell you to get an A. If you just get everything right they give you a B."

"Maybe you get everything right on a test," said the other. "I wish I could. I make mistakes and I don't even know it."

"Anyway, you can learn about more things when you take chemistry or bio or zo," said the girl in the blue jumper. "So you take an art course and they teach you how to look at a painting. It's not going to help you when you get married."

"That's right, too," said the girl in the corner seat. "I'm taking this botany course, you know. You wouldn't think that would do you much good, but my advisor says that it helps a lot with your own children or if you're a Den Mother or something. You can tell them all the various flowers and trees and stuff when you're out on a walk.

"Say you're teaching school and the kids are waiting for a street light. Instead of just waiting around and having them get into trouble, you send them looking for four-leaf clovers or a special kind of grass."

"I'll bet you could figure out all kinds of ways a course like that would help."

"You know, my botany teacher can even tell you what shrubs you should plant if you want to keep other people's kids out of your yard--it's really amazing."

It was too stuffy to stay awake. Visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.