|
Getting By
< previous topic | next topic >
Saving the crackers for breakfast
I was most financially challenged while at Mac, but was blessed with many friendships and connections and jobs, even babysitting jobs, that put me through Mac. I remember when I would have 25 cents on a Friday night I would use it for a bowl of soup or chili at the Macalester drug store and save the crackers for breakfast! If I could get a babysitting job during the weekend, I was set for meals, as my hosts were usually quite generous with sharing food they had in the refrigerator! During my senior year, I was the youth director at John Hus Presbyterian Church in Hopkins, Minn., where Rev. and Mrs. Orrin Moore adopted me and had me join them on weekends — so I was well provided not only with nourishment, but also love and friendship!
Rosalind (Sally) Lorenzana
Santos Moldwin
The generosity of the Westminster Service Guild
I was blessed to have been the first full-tuition scholar of the Westminster Service Guild of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, which I continuously received while fulfilling their requirements for three years. With the scholarship, the Westminster guild “adopted” me and professor at Macalester and member of the Guild, Lois Lox, saw to it that I had basic needs for the winter, that first winter in 1954, including my first winter coat, a hat, mittens, and boots!
Rosalind (Sally) Lorenzana
Santos Moldwin
Coffee and cinnamon toast for 15 cents
Since I lived off campus, I don’t have any funny dorm stories, but one of the things that I fondly remember is going to the Grill in Old Main, “hanging out “ with friends, and drinking coffee and eating cinnamon toast, all for $0.15—that’s right, fifteen cents!! Money was tight in those days, so that was a bargain. Also there was an off-campus lounge in Old Main, so that was another place where we non-dorm people could gather. There were many more off-campus students then because there were many more people living at home in the Twin Cities area.
Rita Reynolds Gehrenbeck
Preparing for winter
The three years I spent living at Wally Hall will always be remembered fondly. Lifelong friends were made there and every September some of us still get together. My favorite memory is of a shopping trip to Minneapolis. This Hawaiian girl had no coat, boots, scarf, mittens, wool clothes or even socks. Jane (Jones) assigned teams to hit the various stores with my limited budget, and in one trip, I was outfitted for life at Macalester.
Peggy J. Smith Tetu
The lower costs of 50 years ago
I remember when yearly college tuition was $900 and books another $100 or so. My five-year-old used car cost $195 and gas to fill it was 25 cents per gallon. College coeds didn't call me, “Sir,” and our whole class was a half century younger and thinking that people in their 70’s were old. How wrong we were!
William M. Johnston
Cutting costs by cutting corners
Not having much in spending money when at Mac, I cut corners on expenses whenever and wherever I could. I would hitchhike home many weekends and my folks usually brought me back if I could not find someone in my hometown of Hutchinson who was going back to the Twin Cities on Sunday. In late fall until early spring, I would bring back as much cooked food as possible, store it between the inside and outside windows of my room and eat cold meat and vegetables during the week. Once I met Audrey, I was always assured of some good meals on those weekends I did not go home, as she lived less than a mile from the college.
Andrew Benjamin
< previous topic | next topic >
|
