Rachel’s like the mid-day sun
Always very bright
Never stops her studying
’til she gets it right.

Carson was a bright student. She attended Parnassus High School in Kensington, PA from 1921 – 1925, graduating at the top of her class and winning a scholarship to Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College), intending to major in English and become a teacher. However, under the guidance and influence of her Biology teacher Mary Skinker, she bravely switched her major from English to Biology, whereupon Skinker became her mentor. Carson’s family was not well-to-do so she had to work part-time to finance her studies. She graduated magna cum laude in 1929.

Keen Intellect & Work Ethic

In school, Carson was noted for her intelligence, perfectionism and academic prowess.

For her high school senior thesis, Carson wrote an essay titled “Intellectual Dissipation”. In her work, she “displayed an abhorrence of mental and moral sloth”. Her views in life at this point, from what can be seen in the essay. are summarized in the words of her biographer Linda Lear:

Rachel’s high standards for both literature and friendship reflected her strict moral upbringing and a strong dose of Calvinistic responsibility and civic obligation. Her thesis, however self-righteous in tone, reveals an inner discipline and strong social conscience. Her childhood in Springdale had given her enough exposure to the superficial judgments and rash actions of others to induce a healthy skepticism about the world and a certain wariness. She was unshakably resolute in her independent pursuit of knowledge.

Financial Difficulties & External Circumstances

Like most protective parents, Carson’s mother chose to home-school her during especially harsh winters or when there is a known epidemic outbreak like measles and whooping cough. Though Carson took the opportunity to read even further and her mother’s tutoring was probably superior than school education and so her academic record remained outstanding, her frequent and extended absences kept her from making friends.

By the time Rachel entered her last two years of high school, her family’s impecuniousness was a source of some embarrassment as well as community comment.

The Carsons’ low socioeconomic status prevented young Carson from making friends. It was probably because of this that Carson’s mother also was wary of outsiders, contributing to Carson’s reluctance to form friendships and bring them home. Also, because she had to catch the infrequent trolley home, she was unable to participate in social or extracurricular activities like most of her peers. Despite this, she made friends and enjoyed herself.

She always managed to get to pep rallies to cheer for the Parnassus football team. Her classmates discovered that Rachel, while quiet, had a mischievous sparkle and the ability to clown without being malicious.

Carson was able to rise above her circumstances and have a positive social effect on others. Furthermore, her circumstances also probably shaped her personality and outlook, putting less emphasis on material needs and social recognition, but rather on intellect and self-worth.