Betsy enrolls at the University of Minnesota in 1910. Interestingly, it was not that uncommon for women to enroll in college at that time. Men and women of that era went to college in roughly equal numbers. Male enrollments reached a high point in the late 1940s, as GIs returned from World War II. Overall enrollment numbers continued to rise to the current day, and as increasing numbers of young women began to expect to participate in the workforce, female enrollments began to outpace male enrollments.

In her freshman year, Betsy suffers a serious attack of appendicitis, and spends much of that year in California, recuperating at her grandmother’s home. She does lots of writing and her stories begin to sell. “I found myself out there,” Betsy later decides (p. 15, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996). But she misses out on almost an entire year of college, and when she returns to the U the next year, she is still considered a freshman.

Officially a freshman, while Joe and her other friends are sophomores, the year goes by quickly. Betsy is writing for the school magazine and serving as Women’s Editor of the school newspaper. One of her stories seems especially good, and one of the college’s more famous and well known professors writes her a letter of encouragement. Betsy’s interest in math and science, never strong, suffers as her writing improves.

The next year, Joe receives a scholarship and transfers to Harvard, and Betsy loses interest in academics altogether. She also begins a relationship with fellow student Bob Barhydt, which begins as an innocent flirtation but becomes somewhat more exclusive, as several photos in the school yearbook document. Joe sees these pictures, and his letters to Betsy grow “cold as ice” (p. 17, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1996). Joe spends no time with Betsy that summer. It seems his love is now ice cold as well.

Betsy’s father sees Betsy’s unhappiness and how little she is getting out of college. He and Betsy have a frank talk in which he expresses to her that while he generally advises that a person finish what they start, it is also good to know when to make a break from something that isn’t working, and go in a different direction. He is talking about education, not Joe, but for Betsy, his words may represent an opportunity to heal her heart.

There are many paths to education, Mr. Ray declares. He presents Betsy with a breathtaking offer: she could drop out of school and take a trip overseas similar to the one that Julia had taken. It would be a broadening experience for a writer, he says. Betsy, who has always wanted to travel (although with Tacy — who is now married and unavailable!), is gratified. She agrees to go, accompanied, initially, by professor friends of Mr. Ray’s brother, who are brother and sister. Betsy suggests that she spend significant periods of time in just a few cities, rather than traveling around constantly. It would be good experience, she thinks, for a writer to become deeply immersed in a few new cultures.

As the plan takes shape, Betsy’s time in college comes to an end, and her venture into the Great World begins.

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On gendered college enrollment trends, see: https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/course131/gkk_jep.pdf