One very large part of the story of Newnham has been as yet little or incidentally treated in this history; the development of student life and interests. At the beginning that was practically the whole life of the community: there were no dons, and the Principal (without losing separate and family interests) merged her life in that of the young people who were under her care. Things were bound to develop in both expected and unexpected ways. As more and more students came to College, variety increased, and at the same time College was likely to become more like a continuation of school. It would perhaps be impossible to trace quite accurately any particular tone or character or even standard of ability rising and falling in the annals of the Newnham students. At first, as already suggested, there was sure to be something of originality and enterprise. Girls were never sent to College as a matter of course, and in many cases they had had hard work in persuading their parents to let them come even for a slight taste of College life. Certainly some came for a short spell and remained for many years, though the fact of coming up without any definite intentions often worked havoc with chances of academic success. There were generally cultivated adult women grappling with subjects which they ought to have mastered in childhood; and also very young students striving after knowledge of a kind beyond their present reach. Possibly these aberrations made student life more interesting. But they could not fail to be diminished--though not even now eliminated--with the growth of a more uniform standard in the curriculum of girls' schools.