Oh dear, poor Mary-Lou. But there are other universities.... Just not in Chalet-land
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| Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5923 |
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| Author: | Selena [ 07 Apr 2009, 14:04 ] |
| Post subject: | Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
This is set in Mary-Lou’s year at St. Mildred’s. Nell Wilson looked very anxious as she sat in her study at St. Mildred’s. She had some bad news to break to one of her pupils and was concerned as to how she would take it. The silence was broken by a brisk knock at the door. In response to Nell’s “Come in!” the door opened and in came Mary-Lou. “Vi said you wanted to see me, Miss Wilson?” “Yes, come and sit down. I’m afraid I have some rather bad news for you,” replied Miss Wilson. Then, noting the alarm on Mary-Lou’s face, quickly added, “No-one is ill, you needn’t worry.” Then taking a deep breath she carried on. “I had a letter this morning from the Chief Admissions Officer at Oxford University. I’m sorry Mary-Lou, but you’ve been rejected.” Mary-Lou sat still and silent in disbelief, amazement written all over her face. “Your application was turned down – you won’t be going to Oxford to study archaeology next autumn,” reiterated Miss Wilson, in case Mary-Lou had not quite grasped the fact. Mary-Lou sat stunned for a moment before her face went pale, and Nell noticed a slight tremble as she stammered “B..b..b.but why?” “Well…the letter said there were many more good applicants than places. It was felt other candidates were more deserving of the places available,” said Nell, gently. Just then there was another knock at the door. Before Miss Wilson had a chance to respond to it, the door burst open and in came Joey. “Hello Nell, I just dropped in to leave a message for Vi Lucy and thought I’d pop in and say hello!” then, noticing Mary-Lou’s expression, “Mary-Lou! What on earth’s the matter?!” “Oh Auntie Joey! I’ve been turned down!” and Mary-Lou found tears filling her eyes. “Turned down! What do you mean?!” exclaimed Joey. “I’m afraid Mary-Lou’s application to Oxford was rejected,” replied Nell. “But why on earth would they do that?” said Joey, going to kneel by Mary-Lou’s chair and placing an arm around her. “Our girls always get accepted there.” “I’ll ring for coffee. I’m sure we could all do with a cup,” said Nell. By the time she had drunk a cup of the nectar the school called coffee, Mary-Lou had recovered from her shock a little. “Miss Wilson, why did they turn me down? I don’t understand. I’ve been Head Girl, Head of the Middles, near the top of every form I’ve been in. I even won that special award last term. I’ve never really failed at anything before. And I have such a strong interest in history. Why have they turned me down? Am I not good enough?” said Mary-Lou, genuinely bewildered. Nell looked at Mary-Lou’s distraught expression and felt a surge of sympathy for her. She was right – in a way, it was the first time she’d ‘failed’. “Well, as I said, there were a lot of candidates. It isn’t so much that they didn’t like you. They simply thought other candidates were better suited.” “But I spent ages on the application forms and even went to that interview at the University. It’s the first year any of us Chalet School girls have had to do that,” responded Mary-Lou. “I know it’s very disappointing for you, my dear. I think you should go and have a lie down for a while. Try and get some sleep and you’ll feel much better for it when you wake up. Give this to Matron,” Nell said, quickly scrawling a message. After Mary-Lou had departed, Nell poured Joey and herself another cup of coffee. “It’s that new Chief Admissions Officer,” remarked Joey. “I’ve heard about him. Making girls travel all the way to England, just for an interview.” “Oh I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. I’ve always found it a mistake to hire staff we have not interviewed ourselves. But yes, it seemed to be the interview that caused the problem,” agreed Nell. “What do you mean? Oh I can see your point about the staff – I remember Matron Webb! But what happened at Mary-Lou’s interview?” asked Joey. “Yes I’ve heard about Matron Webb – and your Society for the Suppression of Matron!” said Nell, smiling suddenly, “I didn’t like to say in front of Mary-Lou, but the letter did contain some more details concerning why she was rejected.” “What were their reasons?” queried Joey. “It seems Mary-Lou came over as quite familiar to the interview panel. She is a friendly girl, but it appears they didn’t quite take her the right way.” “I remember when Kathie Ferrars first came,” said Joey, thoughtfully, “She got off on the wrong foot with Mary-Lou too. But she soon realised that it’s just our Mary-Lou and then everything was alright!” “Yes, but Kathie had you to explain things to her, and plenty of time to get to know Mary-Lou” reasoned Nell. “The interview panel didn’t have that at all. Also, although they admire confidence and a certain amount of self-assurance they seemed to find Mary-Lou a little over-confident. Apparently, she acted as if her getting a place at Oxford was a foregone conclusion.” “Well it is, isn’t it?” said Joey. “All our girls get accepted there. I don’t recall a single girl ever being rejected. And for the first rejection to be Mary-Lou! I hardly believe it myself.” “I think it is partly this new Chief Admissions Officer. He doesn’t think our girls have priority over those from less well-known schools. I can see his point. Girls from less advantaged backgrounds should be given a chance.” Nell sipped her coffee and pondered for a while before continuing, “Joey, I do believe we, as a school, may actually have failed Mary-Lou.” “Failed Mary-Lou?!” exclaimed Joey. “Don’t be absurd! She’s a credit to the school. Mary-Lou has always been the epitome of a Chalet School girl.” “But we have not equipped her to deal with failure very well. She is taking this rejection very badly. Also, when Kathie arrived, we should have taken more notice of how Mary-Lou is seen by people outside the Chalet School. It’s all very well saying “It’s only Mary-Lou!” when we all know her here, but it doesn’t do at all when she’s outside the school. Perhaps we should have checked her behaviour a little and made her more aware that, to some people, she can seem a little overpowering and cheeky, even a little bumptious,” reflected Nell. Joey groaned guiltily. “Then I’m equally to blame. Look at all those times I encouraged her to ‘butt in’! But in my defence, and hers, she has done an awful lot to help other girls.” “Your English Joey!” said Nell, raising her eyebrows. “Yes she certainly has helped people, but may have damaged herself in the process. We encouraged her to ‘butt in’ so many times it has become a strong part of her character.” “What will she do now? Next year, I mean, if she isn’t going to Oxford,” asked Joey. “I expect she could reapply to Oxford. Or perhaps look at courses at other Universities. I will look in to it,” replied Nell. “At least we still have her here till the summer. We can help her to prepare for any future interview, which we should probably have done before.” “And teach her a little tact,” added Joey firmly. “That should temper the ‘butting in.’” “It certainly should,” replied Nell, going in to a peal of laughter. “And what are you laughing at, may I ask?” said Joey, rather primly. “The thought of you teaching someone tact, my dear,” smiled Nell. And Joey laughed too, a little embarrassedly. THE END |
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| Author: | Alison H [ 07 Apr 2009, 14:06 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Sadly much more realistic than the way they all just walk in without even an interview. |
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| Author: | JB [ 07 Apr 2009, 14:38 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Loved Joey's response there. |
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| Author: | JS [ 07 Apr 2009, 15:09 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Oh dear, poor Mary-Lou. But there are other universities.... Just not in Chalet-land
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| Author: | trig [ 07 Apr 2009, 15:49 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
 Like it! And so happy it had to be Mary-Lou! To be fair to EBD I've always got the impression (which may be completely wrong!) from relatives that before the big University boom in the sixties, it was pretty simple to walk into the university of your choice. If you were from a decent school, had the right qualifications and a good reference, you were in. |
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| Author: | Abi [ 07 Apr 2009, 19:34 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Excellent! What a terrible shock that must have been! |
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| Author: | Lesley [ 07 Apr 2009, 20:12 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Yes I can see that - and perhaps Nell is the better person to deal with it - after all, she didn't go to Oxford. Thanks Selena |
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| Author: | Miss Di [ 08 Apr 2009, 04:00 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Brilliant Selena. I especially like the idea of Joey teaching tact! |
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| Author: | bookworm [ 09 Apr 2009, 16:20 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Poor M-L; but its someting we all had to learn, we somtimes fail... |
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| Author: | Sarah_K [ 10 Apr 2009, 20:07 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Poor Mary Lou, I mean I can see it happening but it would be a shock to be rejected at all let alone be the first chaletian to be rejected by Oxford. Still there are plenty of other universities... maybe with the help of someone other than Joey 
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| Author: | Fiona Mc [ 11 Apr 2009, 13:30 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
Felt sorry for Mary Lou and glad Joey and Nell acknowledged they also let Mary Lou down. Hope they can help. Thanks Selena |
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| Author: | Fatima [ 12 Apr 2009, 17:54 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
I felt so sorry for Mary-Lou here. Thanks, Selena. |
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| Author: | PaulineS [ 15 Apr 2009, 11:45 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
I have just been listening to a Women;s Hour programme on teenagers, recently research has shown that shown that during te teen years the brains rewire themself to adult forms. Teenagers also learn how to talk to different people in different ways. Treating everyone the same is a trait of childhood. Mary Lou was not allowed to learn adult conversation by EBD. EBD emphasised how grown up for her age Mary Lou was whilst in fact keeping her to child like behaviour. Failing to get in to Oxford would help her grow up. There are and were many Universities she could apply to and do what she wanted to after her degree. |
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| Author: | brie [ 17 Apr 2009, 19:30 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Mary-Lou's Disappointment (Complete) |
This is lovely. Thanks Selena, it's so realistic |
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