Through the Eyes of a Tiger
Looking back a few years, I remember my first convocation day at The Westridge School for Girls. Four hundred girls in dresses that much resemble nurses uniforms (except for the curly, green "W" on the right breast pocket) parade into the gymnasium. Pretty soon all I can see are rows and rows of girls seated on the bleachers, as small as fourth graders and as old as seniors. The headmistress welcomes us to another year of continuing the tradition of a fine women's education. Soon the time arrives to sing the school song. As soon as the mass of girls rise to sing I know that I am glad to be a part of this community. Many of my peers were here last year in fourth, and they already know the simple tune to "Surgere Tentamus". Since this is my first year and I don't know the words, I stand shyly in my dress, nervously wiggling my toes in my new, stiff saddle shoes.
English: Ghausia Girls High School, Cross Street, ...
Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon.
Catlin Gabel SchoolBy the next year those few bars of music are a part of me and to this day I often sing them to myself. "Surgere Tentamus" translated from Latin means "we strive to rise." I feel that even in today's liberated world women still need to learn that unless they "strive to rise" they can be easily overshadowed by their male counterparts. Becoming educated at an all girls school is a simple answer to the often perplexing problem of competing with male dominance in our society.
Clearly, l am an example of why any young woman should spend at least part of her schooling in single sex education. I am and always will be a Westridge tiger. Tigers were the school mascot at Westridge, where I attended fifth...