SC0103_Lesnett_1944-09-04

September 4, 1944

Dear Mother and Daddy,

I just got back from my French class and I learned that I got an A- in my big French test. I never really expected to see one of those grades on this campus; consequently I am very excited about it and probably won't want to study anything else all week.

I had my first music lesson last Friday and I am very enthusiastic about them. Mrs. [Bilenky?] seems very wonderful and I think I am going to learn a lot from her. I didn't have to play anything at all for her last week but she told me a lot about music that I didn't know and she expects me not only to know how to play a piece but why it should be played that way and

what the author wishes to express. She told me a lot about the different musicians, the different musical periods and the different types of music. It was very interesting and I think it will help a lot in knowing how a certain piece should be played. She has a very broad minded view of music. She also taught me about the scale and why it was built the way it was. It's wonderful to know that, especially when you are reading a piece because from one chord you know what to expect from the following one. I don't think that she is going to teach me many new pieces , at least not at first. She will probably give me a lot of background work. Next week I'll know just how much work she expects me to do during the week.

I suppose you want to know about the formal dance.

It was everything you'd ever expect a formal to be. It was held at a real super place in the Palace Hotel in San Fransisco. It was a very beautiful room and there was a super orchestra. They even had a magician do some tricks. Janet Raisch who had an apartment in San Fransisco very near the Palace Hotel asked four of us, me, Sally Sutch, Breen Ratterman, and Ruth [Nyswarder?] to come home with her afterwards and spend the night. Janet is a very nice girl and went to Miss Burke's in San Fransisco which would corrspond to Marlborough in S.F. We came right home the next morning after breakfast, because everyone had to do some homework. We all helped to fix breakfast and I invented some delicious new eggs. Everyone stood around aghast when I made them and I was afraid that I was going to have to eat them all from the horrified looks on all their

faces, but they had to admit afterwards that they were very good. I fixed them like daddy used to fix for me in a pan-cake form with ham, only I didn't use ham, but bacon and cheese. I was really quite proud of myself.

About our not having any discipline here; they don't give us any set rules but they scare us into disciplining ourselves. Last week they sent two girls home for not studying enough and "gadding about" too much, and I'm not going to let anything like that happen to me. Anyway, last week I did go to bed earlier than I had been and I studied hard and got the best grades I've gotten up here yet, and still had dates every night except Thursday from 9:30 until 10:30.

I asked for another room for next quarter and I got it. It isn't far from my present one and is just like Sally Teachout's; so I guess I will need a chair and a larger rug for next quarter. Thank you ever so much for seeing about the

lamp. It sounds just perfect and if the shade isn't right we can becover it ourselves with material like the chair is covered with, but I'm glad you didn't get the shade with the map on it. I don't think I would have liked it very well. If you have any time to see about the chair before I come home, I would like it covered in green chintz if possible. If you you could also would you try and make an appointment with an eye doctor to see if there is anything wrong with my eyes for when I come home. It probably wouldn't be too good to wait too long before making the appointment because sometimes they are pretty busy. I am coming home on the 21st and leaving again on the 8th. The last date is not exactly certain.

I hope you had a wonderful time at Phoenix, but I know you couldn't have helped but have [did?].

Love to all, Mary