Chapter 21 of Tales That Can Remember by Elsie Swagerty Burton
It was now time to make choices about life and what I wanted to do with it. I had already determined I wanted to be married to Harry. He had asked me and I had told him I could not consider a proposal until I was eighteen, but I knew I would eventually marry him. It was still hard depression times. Harry’s older brother, Ray, was having difficulty trying to keep his family going without steady employment so we knew it was unrealistic for us to hope for an opportunity to marry in the foreseeable future. What to do in the meantime? Girls were being advised to educate themselves for some sort of employment so that if it ever became necessary to support themselves they would be equipped to do so.
All through high school it had been emphasized that good grades were a necessity in order to enter college. Since mine had been less than great I felt college was not a possibility for me. However, it was brought to my attention that Ada, who did not have honor roll grades either, was planning to go to San Jose Junior College. That possibility had never been brought to my attention before. Now the possibilities opened up.
Dad tried to interest me in a teaching career. At that point in time I believed I was tired of school and didn’t want to consider to be in one forever. Aunt Ethel, who taught school in Eureka, offered to have me live with her and attend Humbolt State. I was tempted for I truly loved being with her, but that would mean staying away up in Eureka for the major part of at least four years. I was too involved with Harry to really seriously consider it. Both Ada and I settled on a Dental Assistant Course at San Jose Technical College. We attended classes with those students enrolled with San Jose State College and San Jose Junior College.
When it was determined that I would go to college the financing became a problem. My sweet mother came to my rescue. For about 2 1/2 months we would both go in to San Jose to work in a cannery. I would have my wages, Mother would keep $100 of her earnings and I would have the rest. I seldom had over $200 left over by the time I bought my clothes and paid tuition and book supplies. I then had to pro-rate it to last through two more quarters of tuitions, books and fees and incidentals for the year. I didn’t taste a bit of it – not even for an occasional 5 cent candy bar. Ada financed herself through work in the cannery during the summer vacations a I did, plus he did some sort of civic aid in which she cleaned rest room during her free periods at school.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 