CHAPTER XIX

Unforeseen difficulties

When Helen began her second year at the Cambridge (Gilman) school she
was full of hope and enthusiasm, but some unforeseen problems arose. She was
to study physics, algebra, geometry, astronomy, Greek and Latin. Unfortunately
many of the books she needed had not been embossed in time for her. The
casses being large, she could not receive special attention. Miss Sullivan was
forced to read all the books to her, and interpret for the instructors. For the first
time it seemed she was unequal to the hard task

Peculiar problems

Helen had to do algebra and geometry in class and solve problems in
physics. She could not do so until they bought a braille writer by means of which
she could put down the steps and processes of her work. As she could not see
the geometrical figures on the blackboard, she had to make them on a cushion
with straight and curved wires, with bent and pointed ends. She had to carry in
mind the lettering of the figures, the hypothesis and conclusion, the construction
and the process of the proof. Every subject had its own problems. At times she
lost all courage. It was Miss Sullivan who made the crooked straight and the
rough places smooth" for her By and by Helen was able to solve her problems
She had no aptitude for mathematics. The geometrical diagrams were specially
irritating. It was not until Mr Keith taught her that she had a clear idea of
mathematics

Mr Gilman's complaints

Mr Gilman told Miss Sullivan that Helen was overworked. Despite protests
he reduced the number of her recitations. Then he insisted on Helen's stay for
three years more instead of two years. Helen did not like the idea as she wished
with her classmates. Her illness gave Mr Gilman an excuse to
make changes in her studies which meant her longer stay in the school
result was that Helen's mother withdrew nd her sister from the Cambridge
School

Helen's studies under a tutor

Mr Merton S. Keith was engaged to teach Helen. He came to Wrentham
twice a week, from February to July 1898, and taught her algebra, geometry
Greek and Latin. In October 1898 they returned to Boston. Mr Keith continued
to teach her Thus Helen's preparation for college continued. She was happy and
satisfied. Mr Keith made even mathematics interesting for her. He was always
gentle and forbearing,

Final examinations for Radcliffe College

On the 29th and 30th of June, 1899, Helen took her final examinations for
Radcliffe. Mr Eugene C. Vining, an instructor at the Perkins Institution for the
Blind, was employed to copy the papers for her in American braille. The braille
worked well enough in the languages, It did not work well in the case of geometry
and algebra. Helen was badly perplexed because she had used only the English
braille in her algebra. The symbols in the American braille were different from
those in the English braille. Two days before the examinations, Mr Vining sent
Helen a copy of one of the old Harvard papers in algebra. It was in the American
notation. Mr Vining was asked to explain the signs. He sent another paper and a
table of signs, but Helen remained confused. Mr Keith could not help her. So he and Helen went over to the college a little before the examination. Mr Vining
helped them as much as he could.

Helen's confusion

The American braille provided to Helen proved to be vexing. Helen was
not familiar with its signs. Mr Keith had relied too much on her ability to solve
problems mentally. So she was very slow in her work. She had to read the
examples repeatedly to understand what she was required to do. She was not
sure if she really read the signs correctly. The administrative board of Radcliffe
had no idea how difficult they were making her examinations, nor did they
understand the difficulties she had to overcome. The only thing that was
satisfying was that she was mehow able to surmount all the difficulties
Successfully