What School Year Jobs Did I Have During My College Years - 1963-1968

I began my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI in September 1963.  I had been accepted at UW-Madison and at UW-LaCrosse.  The LaCrosse campus was closer to home and less expensive so my plan was to attend that school unless I could get into one of the two scholarship dorms at UW-Madison.  I qualified to apply for a room in one of those dorms because I had been the Salutatorian of my high school class.  The dorms provided a lower cost than other campus dorms because the scholarship dorms required the residents to participate with assigned weekly duties in the dorm’s common areas such as the lounge, hallways, bathrooms and the kitchen/dining area.  I was really hoping to get a room in one of those dorms because my brother was starting his senior year at UW-Madison and he had made life in Madison sound very inviting.  He was very active in Badger Christian Fellowship which was a branch of Inter-Varsity which is a college christian ministry.  I knew I would join him in attending their weekly meetings if I was able to be assigned a room at Zoe Bayliss or Susan Davis House. 

I applied for a room in one of those houses. In time, I received a response with a letter that told me I was not accepted for a room but had been put on a wait list.  The letter told me to reply if I wished to remain on the wait list.  I was very disappointed about this and since it was already quite late in my senior year of high school, I felt my chances of getting assigned a room were near impossible so I didn’t return a letter asking to be kept on the wait list.  I was willing to settle for acceptance at UW-LaCrosse.

A few weeks after I received the letter from UW-Madison, however, I arrived home from high school and Mom handed me another letter from Madison.  I opened the letter and read its message.  “Congratulations, you have been accepted as a resident at Susan Davis House.”  I looked at Mom and said, “How can this be?  I didn’t return the letter asking to be kept on the wait list!”  And then I learned that my mother had not taken my earlier “No” for the final word so she had returned the letter for me asking to be kept on a wait list.  
Mom was like that.  She didn’t allow a first disappointment to be the final word on anything if it was something she thought God might want to change about some situation that may have looked hopeless but turned out not to be.  How hugely grateful I am for my mother’s choice of overriding my inexperienced decision.  She allowed God to have the final word on my first year of college and that would provide me with the privilege of meeting John Charles Worden, a UW-Madison junior friend of my brother’s who was also active in Badger Christian Fellowship.  We will celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary on August 20, 2021 which is 3.5 months from when I am writing about this.  

So I moved into Susan Davis House in September of 1963.  Perhaps it could be said that my work assignments as a resident there were another job I had during my college years.  They did bring down the cost of my room and board there but I had another part-time job during the second semester of that freshman year.  I now begin quoting from the letter I wrote home to my parents dated 2-12-64.  

“During our February dorm house meeting, it was announced that our house president had gotten a call from a Mrs. Bailey who wanted to know if there was any girl interested in baby-sitting five days a week from about 4-5:30.  I thought nothing about it at the time but after the meeting, Edi Proctor (another resident of Susan Davis House) mentioned that she'd like to take the job but couldn't baby-sit Tuesday & Thursday afternoons because of classes.  I thought about it then and we decided we'd like to split the time.  Edi called Mrs. Bailey as she had done some baby-sitting for her before and therefore knew her.  Mrs. Bailey didn't know if she were too fond of the idea of having girls alternate and before anybody started, she wanted to meet me.  I talked to her then and made arrangements to go over and talk to her about it.  While talking to her, however, I could tell she wanted only one person to be there regularly, because as she said, 'It's hard on Brucey (her eight year old son) when he doesn't know who'll be waiting to meet him when he gets home from school.'  Anyway, she asked me which nights I could come & I told her I could come any of the nights but Edi could only come Mon., Wed., & Fri.  Well, she asked me then if I could come every night but I said I wouldn't want to make any hard feelings between Edi and me.  Also, I didn't think I could afford that much time.  While I was there, she also told me she worked late every Friday nite 'til about 7 or 8.  This would make it impossible for me to go to I.V. so I didn't want that.  She then asked me if I could come four days, Mon-Thurs.  I said I could if it would be O.K. with Edi.  We made these arrangements then.  I didn't have to work Mon & Tues because her Mother was here but I did sit last night from 5:00 - 8:30.  If you're wondering why the hrs are different than our arrangement was made for, so am I but now it seems that she works frequently quite late and last night Bruce had cub scouts."

In this job, I met the school bus which dropped off Bruce near my dorm and I walked him to the apartment he shared with his mother which was very near by.  I would stay with him until his mother got home from work.  I don’t think he had homework to do which was fortunate because my job included housework.  During my time in this home, it was my job each day to prepare the food the Mom wanted for their supper.  She left the menu and the food and I got it ready for her arrival.  I did not eat with them but was able to get back to my dorm in time to eat in my residence.  I also was asked to clean in the home so I dusted, vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed, organized the boy’s room, changed sheets, made beds and probably also washed and ironed.  

Again from my 1964 letter home:  "I keep track of my own time and will be paid $1.15 while I'm working and $.60 while I'm just sitting.  Edi will be working just Fri. nights which is O.K. with her I guess."  The pay was a little help for me and I knew I was helping someone who wanted her child to be well cared for.  He was very easy to watch as he mostly entertained himself.  I only had that job until my freshman year ended.

I had to have a GPA of at least 2.5 in order to remain at Susan Davis House and I finished my freshman year with a 2.0 GPA.  During my sophomore year, I moved into a place nearly across the street from Susan Davis House called the Baptist Student Center.  There was a house for girls and a house for boys who were living in these houses and participating with a student program operated by staff for the Baptist Student Center.  Each house had a married couple who were houseparents and part of the team of people working at the Baptist Student Center.  The students receiving their housing in these homes were required to help with cleaning in their rooms and the common areas as well as help in the dining room that also fed students from other area housing which didn’t include meals.  These were jobs that provided for reduced room and meal rates but didn’t provide a paycheck.  I occasionally had baby sitting jobs for faculty or married students with children.  Those were places within walking distance of my room.

At the end of my sophomore year, my GPA remained below 2.5 and therefore the University suspended me for a year.  I was also unable to transfer to any of the state universities.  I could not remain in University housing.  A couple who owned a home not far from the campus were folks who participated in things held at the Baptist Student Center so I had gotten to know them.  They were in the process of putting in a room for two students in the garage level of their home.  The room was ready for residents in the fall following my sophomore year.  My sister, Barbara, graduated from high school at that same time and was coming to UW-Madison in the fall to begin her college nursing program.  The Montie family invited Barbara and me to live in their garage room.  The cost of the room was reduced and the privilege of living there included commitment to be household and childcare help.  The Montie’s had two young children so there was babysitting plus ironing and cleaning duties that we helped with for the next year.

Since I was not a student, I needed to find a job within walking distance of the Montie home.  A few blocks from their home was a small shopping as well as business office area.  I walked along that area and noticed a HELP WANTED sign in Gordie’s Bakery.  I walked in and applied for their job opening which was to work in sales from 7:00 AM to Noon Monday - Friday.  Gordie’s was considered one of the best bakeries in Madison and had lots of business.  There was a vast array of pastries which were delicious and made fresh daily.  The baker had come from Germany and started his work at 2:00 AM so the aroma and taste were enticing.  People came daily to sit at a table for their coffee breaks or to purchase breads and pastries.  I ran the sales room, dining area and answered the phone to take orders.  It was an easy walk from our room and it was a pleasant place to work.  I was paid $1.35 / hour.  

Because I had more hours in the day during which I could be employed, I took a waitress job at a nice Restaurant named Ivy Inn for their dinner hours from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.  In a letter to my parents I reported that most evenings I made $7 - $7.50 in tips.  This restaurant was also within walking distance of my room.  I managed to save enough during that year to pay for the first car that John C. Worden and I bought together just before we married in August 1966.   I worked in Madison until mid May 1966 when I moved home to help my Dad with spring planting before I moved in June to return to college at UW-Whitewater where I took two classes during the summer session.  My GPA at the end of that summer session was now 3.5.

John and I got engaged in February 1966, he completed his undergrad degree in June 1966 and our wedding took place in August of 1966.  Because of my academic difficulties during my two years as a student at UW-Madison, I desperately wanted to give up on completing a college degree.  John, however, was not convinced that my initial difficulties were a recipe for continued academic issues if I transferred to a different school after we married.  His determination and confidence in me were the encouragement I needed to be willing to transfer to UW-Whitewater which was a 28 mile drive from where his first job was.  He got a job at Badger High School in Lake Geneva, WI to teach speech and support the drama program of the school starting in September 1966.  After our wedding, we moved to an apartment in Lake Geneva and I commuted to UW-Whitewater for the next two years to complete my undergrad degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Library Science which qualified me as a K-12 school librarian.  My official graduation was in January 1969 after I completed a semester of student teaching in Racine, WI.  John and I had moved there when I learned where I would be assigned.  He began his seminary work at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in August 1968.  I received some income during my semester as a student intern as my student teaching requirement.  Following graduation in January 1969, I became employed full time in the Racine, WI school system as the librarian at Jefferson Elementary School.  

This completes my story about jobs I had during my college years other than during the summers of 1964 and 1965 when I worked as a waitress in Estes Park, CO. How grateful I am for parents, family members, and a boyfriend who became my husband who joined me in prayer so that I was able to complete an undergrad degree without debt at I graduated.