The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1973, Page 43

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
41
PART III — of Solveig Sveinsson’s story tells of the determi-
nation of a young girl to do well at school and to “become a
part of the world” she had read about. To Winnipeg she must
go and attend collegiate.
To Winnipeg she proceeded to a friend of the family, with a
dollar in her purse which her Dad gave her. She obtained a
place where she could work for her board and attend school,
and in addition receive a dollar a montnh.
At school she was at first derided for her clothing and worn
shoes, but she showed spunk. With her first dollar earned she
bought a “beautiful pair of shoes”. Presently derision changed
to respect and she came to be accepted by her fellow students
fty m hum solveig ms
Time passed and did not hang too
heavily on my hands with a little
childish fun snatched here and there
valued the more because it came so
seldom. I studied hard and really lived
for the time that I would be through,
at least that far that I could get a
permit to teach at one of the schools
in our district. I was sorely in need of
so many things. My dollar a month
could not be stretched further than I
did manage to stretch it. The older
I got the more keenly I felt the lack
of so many things that all the other
girls seemed to have.
The time came sooner than I ex-
pected. One day in November I was
instructed to stay in after school.
Trembling, fearing that something had
gone wrong, I appeared at the tea-
cher’s desk after school. Smiling she
told me she had good news for me.
The man who had been engaged to
teach at my home school found it
necessary to leave, so the school
board, which consisted of my father
and two neighbors, had written to the
Department of Education in Win-
nipeg, requesting that I be granted
permission to teach at their school to
finish the other teacher’s term.
“The Department got in touch with
us this morning asking for your qual-
ifications. If you are interested I will
go down with you in the morning to
see the Department and get your per-
mit,” the teacher said, smiling at me.
If I was interested! I could not be-
lieve my good fortune. When I un-
dressed that evening I felt that I was
also shedding my privations and hard-
ships like an old stocking. I was on
my own! I realized, of course, that I
was still very far from my goal, but —
but from now on it was uip to me! I
had been given my start. That night
I fell asleep with tears of joy and
gratitude wet on my cheeks.
Although the teacher who had left
was to have thirty dollars a month
and I was to have only twenty-five
dollars, I could not have been happier.
Of that amount, I would give father
eight dollars a month for my room
and board. Not that he asked for it;
I knew that was what teachers at near-
by schools paid for their room and
board. I would still have to walk two-
and-one-half miles to school.
I looked forward to teaching; look-
ed forward to having a chance to
handle books, read and study along