Reflections on My Time at SU in the Year of the Water Theme

The river called Susquehanna stretches from the Appalachian plateau in New York to the Chesapeake Bay.

When I was a sophomore in 1937, a junior girl burst into my room in Seibert Hall and shouted, “The boys are praying for rain. Come and bring lots of water.” I had no pail, so I filled my metal wastebasket and dashed to her room at the front of the dorm.

Several of us climbed through her window onto the roof above the front steps. (I feel sure this was against the rules.) Below us a dozen or more boys knelt, waving their arms skyward and pleading, “Rain. Rain. Give us rain.” We answered their pleas with as much “rain” as we could provide, and when they were well saturated, they left.

I also remember walking on the railroad bridge across the Susquehanna River, peering between the boards rather fearfully at the water below. My companions assured me it was not dangerous because there was only one train a day, and it wasn’t due for another four hours.

They say our brains are not fully developed until our mid-20s, and I believe it!

Virginia Mann ’40 Wolven