Working as a nurse’s aide on the men’s floor of a German hospital with an American Air Force Base only two blocks away is a single girl’s paradise. And that is how Miss Mary Jane Enderby, the new part-time professor of music, spent her summer after obtaining a BM from North Texas State University.
This was proven on her second day when she was assigned to assist the hospital’s head doctor with an eye operation. Her task was to hold the light. Unaccustomed to the surgical room, she had to be relieved. But not all days were like that There was the day that she had a birthday and her male patients gave her cake and candy. And there were friends.
She met a young German girl working on the same floor who was eager to learn English and, since Miss Enderby wanted to improve her German, they gave each other language lessons. The German girl invited Miss Enderby to her home and often invited her to participate in family outings, thus acquiring first-hand knowledge of German family life.
A Catholic hospital in Freising, Germany, was the destination of the Gainesville native who knew nil about nursing. The American Air Force Base gave Miss Enderby a chance to discover that Texans really do wear Stetsons and boots. She returned the hospitality by extending an open invitation to Miss Enderby to visit her country.
A lover of travel, Miss Enderby spent the summer of ’65 in Venezuela. She has journeyed to Canada and Mexico several times and has toured 40 of the States. While working on her MM from the University of Michigan, Miss Enderby became acquainted with a female Finnish exchange student sponsored with a Fulbright Scholarship. Miss Enderby invited her Finnish friend to spend Christmas with her in Texas. The exchange student was amazed to socialize with other Americans.
A former member of the North Texas Women’s Choir and the Chapel Choir, as well as Grand Chorus, which sings with the Dallas Symphony, this is Miss Enderby’s first college staff position. She has previously taught private piano and organ lessons. She is presently the organist of the First Baptist Church and is a committee member of the Texarkana Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.