Stranger In A Strange School

We've all been there at some point in our lives: alone in a new environment with nary a familiar face in sight.

Stranger At School, or The Loneliest Girl In The World, is a Woman's Home Companion pictorial from October 1947. It was photographed by Eileen Darby at the New Rochelle High School in New York. Woman's Home Companion takes us through the first few anxious days in the life of the new girl at school. If you're hoping for a few nuggets of comfort and motherly wisdom of the 'be yourself' variety for making friends and impressing the profs, you might want to steer clear of this list of don'ts and YOU BETTER NOTS lest you should require anti-jitter remedies before the big day.


Remember, your new schoolmates are just as unsure about you as you are about them!


From here on in, the Stranger is known as Smart Teen, but only as long as she keeps herself sleep deprived and spruce. You want your new classmates to think you're a neat package...


But NOT a sloe-eyed siren. Know your limitations. You're only average in the looks department (if you're lucky!), so rather than dressing to impress, you just want to adopt a passable hygiene routine and stick to it.


Once you're on school property, there's no looking back. You're stuck, so you may as well head inside.


No one likes a brown noser. Talk to no one. You're better off being known as the new girl who walks around muttering to herself than someone who attempts to 'just make conversation' with new classmates and teachers.


There is only one thing worse than coming across as a cover girl or a teacher's pet, and that's being a stoopid pill popper. You'll need to sit up front in class during lectures so you can take good notes since you won't earn any cool points by asking questions.


Join activities but don't chummy up to any strangers. They don't like it, and they'll avoid you like the plague. Unless they're too polite to tell you that they're not interested in hearing your life story (with accompanying slide show) during the half hour lunch break.


Once school lets out, don't hang around campus like a stray puppy. Sure, the rest of the school will be cramming into soda fountains, but, remember, you have no friends. And, since it's advised that you talk to no one, you won't be making any anytime soon. Get used to spending your afternoons preparing for another lonely day at school.


Glutton for punishment? The only thing more awkward than Silent New Girl being photographed at school is Silent New Girl sitting alone at the soda fountain while a magazine documents her every move. Remember, you're not there to meet people or attract a boyfriend. Chug down your soda and get out of there and quick! Once you're home you can feel free to be yourself, but wait until that screen door slams shut behind you!


The major lesson to learn is that no one wants to get to know the real you. Not even if you're nice and pretty. But you don't want to be known as the resident handkerchief-head who takes stoopid pills. Leave plenty of time for homework!

The odd thing is Woman's Home Companion never explored the consequences that bringing a major magazine to cover one's first day at school had on this girl's popularity. Forget not bothering the teacher with extra questions or apple polishing; wouldn't it be a bit more annoying to have someone snapping photos over your shoulder all day? And are those resentful, judgmental students who look down their nose at the new girl really unfazed by the journalist following her around to document her every move? I'm sure if she really remained unpopular it would be because of this article!