Introduction

To begin with, it should be mentioned that Jerusha Abbott’s father and mother had died, and that’s why she was brought up in the asylum named the John Grier Home. One of the Trustees of this establishment believed that the girl had originality, and so decided to put her through college, thus Judy could be educated to become a writer. The only payment that the rich Trustee required was to get monthly letters from the girl, in which she was to tell of the progress in her studies and the details of her daily life. He just thought nothing helped better to become a writer than letter-writing. Thus, the book consists of Jerusha’s letters to the Trustee, who preferred to remain unknown, so the girl called him “Daddy-Long-Legs” according to the only slight impression of him that she had managed to catch. And being guided by these letters I’d like to describe Judy’s first steps at college.

Main Part

On Jerusha’s first days at college it seemed to her to be the biggest, most bewildering place. And she got lost whenever she left her room. The girl loved college, she was very happy and so excited every moment of the time she could hardly sleep. It was completely different from the John Grier Home and unlike the other girls Judy wasn’t homesick, because she was of the opinion that nobody could be asylumsick. The only trouble with college was that Jerusha was expected to know such a lot of things she had never learned. It was very confusing at times. But then when the girls talked about things that Judy had never heard of, she just kept still and looked them up in the encyclopedia. The girl believed that her mind was a very deep abyss of ignorance, and that’s why she read a lot of books. She looked forward all day to evening, and then she put “don’t disturb” on the door and got into her nice red bath robe and furry slippers and piled all the cushions behind her on the couch and lit the lamp at her elbow, and read, and read, and read. Judy hadn’t had such an opportunity in the asylum, because she had roomed with twenty more children there. So, it had been the first time the foundling had a room to herself, and it was restful for her to be alone. Besides, college gave Jerusha a chance to develop her abilities. For instance, the English instructor thought that the girl’s papers showed an unusual amount of originality, which really surprised Judy, who was sure that the aim of the John Grier Home was to turn the ninety-seven orphans into ninety-seven twins. Moreover, Jerusha Abbott had commenced to be an author, and one of her poems appeared in the college monthly magazine on the first page. The girl also made the Freshman basketball team as she was terribly quick and strong and learned how to skate, and how to slide down a rope from the roof of the gymnasium. All in all with every day college was getting nicer and nicer for Judy. She liked the girls and the teachers and the classes and the Campus and the things they ate. They didn’t have to eat corn-meal mush and they even had ice-cream twice a week.

Conclusion

So, we can see that Jerusha began new life at college, and it was absolutely different from the one she had had in the asylum. Of course, this new life wasn’t a complete bed of roses, as sometimes the girl faced some difficulties, but, without any doubt, it was a new experience for Judy, and her life at college was full of adventures.

Jerusha’s academic life in college: her failures and achievements (“Daddy-Long-Legs)