Work Your Way Through College Ladies, Washing Dishes Is Fun, 1921

From the Highlander and Shelby News, Feb. 14, 1921.

Co-Eds Can Earn Board and Keep…Wooster College Girls Tell How They Can Work Their Way Through

Wooster, Ohio, April 12—Mere man has no corner on the business of working one’s way through college.

Co-eds at Wooster College testify to this assertion in essays they have submitted to college authorities in a contest on “How I Worked My Way Through College.”

Girls attending the college paid their expenses by performing various tasks, including cleaning house, ironing, waiting table, doing office work, doing dishes at college dormitories, tutoring and working in factories.

“I’m sorry, of course, that conditions make it impossible for you to float through college on flowery beds of ease,” but let me tell you, you’ll enjoy school ever so much more if you pay for it all yourself,” declares Miss Florence E. Wallace of Wooster, a senior, whose essay was in the form of a letter to a friend in whom she divulged her experiences in working her way through school.

“Pocket Your False Pride”

Miss Wallace laid down three rules to which she adheres. They are:

“First, pocket your false pride. Be proud only of being able to pay your own way.

“Second, take any job that offers, no matter how disagreeable, or poorly paid. That kind of work, well done, usually leads to something better.

“Third, let everyone know you are willing to work. It pays to advertise.”

Miss Wallace said her expenses during her first year in college were less than $200. By the time her junior year was completed, her expenditures reached $225. This year, which will include her graduation, she estimates $300 will be sufficient to meet all requirements.

Miss Wallace earned money both summers and winters. Her favorite odd-job is waiting table.

“I started when I was in high school,” she confessed, “and I have become quite expert. I have served at the country club, at college affairs, at private dinners and at three summer hotels. I have worked on Saturdays at a shoe store, and later at a clothing store. The objection to Saturday work is that nearly all the college games and parties come on that day.

“I do not use a typewriter, but I have found office work to do. I have addressed thousands of envelopes. Last summer, profiting by the training I received in the science in which I am majoring, I procured laboratory employment and saved $200 during vacation. I have taken care of babies, done housework for faculty wives, and, when I was a freshman, I worked in a factory one summer and did sweat-shop work at home for 12 ½ cents an hour.”

Always Enough to Do

“Like the widow’s cruse, I always abounded with opportunities for work. It seems as if I never need extra money without extra work appearing. Sometimes I’ve wished I were twins so I could do two jobs simultaneously. I’ve often been able to get work for other girls, and many of them have been kind in remembering me for the same purpose.”

Miss Jean Wilson, whose parents are missionaries in India, has done some “domestic intervention” to “bring in the ducats,” she said.

“Many of the good ladies of the community are glad to let someone play Martha for them at times,” said Miss Wilson. “I have done it on a number of occasions. For anyone who likes housework, or cooking, there is an opportunity here for fairly steady employment. In the same connection, I might mention the cherubic infants with which the town is richly endowed.

“They often need to be taken care of while ‘mama’ or ‘papa’ go out to dinner or club. Some of the children are quite adorable. Some aren’t. But that’s all in the day’s work. I most enjoy taking care of them from 7:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. They sleep and I read. That’s very convenient.”

Miss Lucile Cumming of Rockford, Ill., declares that giving her name to the college Y.W.C.A. employment committee when she came to Wooster two years ago has afforded her plenty of work.

Washing Dishes Fun

“The wife of a furloughed missionary wanted someone to help her get ready to go back to work. So I have her an afternoon a week which resolved itself into an ironing day. When other calls for ironing came, I accepted gladly. I spent Saturday mornings with one woman, cleaning house.

“Washing dishes at the dormitory proved to be lots of fun. I spent an hour in the kitchen every night, washing dishes. Yes, but I was also getting acquainted with other girls who work there. Being ‘hall girl’ proved delightful employment. The work was, principally, answering the telephone and doorbell.

“In my second year I tried living out in town and working for my board and room. I liked it, but it was too hard for me. Then I began working just for my room. That was much better. It gave me just enough of the home touch to keep my fingers nimble. I have, also, done some work as assistant to the college librarian, and a profitable path to the coffers of the world at large is through my stocking agency. I always find some girls who are needing hose. Last Christmas, we girls made dainty organdy flowers in bouquets and corsages and found a brisk demand for them. I often earn extra money by typing theses, or book reviews, or things of that sort.”