First Lady Visits School, Calls Self ‘Terrible Student’

Barbara Bush, visiting the world’s oldest Roman Catholic university, admitted she was a “terrible student.”

While her husband and other NATO leaders were debating world issues Monday, the First Lady toured the central library of the Catholic University of Leuven, founded in 1425.

“I was a terrible student. I was what they call a late bloomer,” she told reporters after receiving a bound volume of the history of the city from Mayor Alfred Vansina.

The library, burned down by the Germans in World War I, was rebuilt with money from U.S. schools and universities. The United States also gave money when the library was gutted in a fire during World War II.

Mrs. Bush posed for photographers beside the pillar bearing the name of Smith College, where she studied for a year before leaving to marry the man who is now President.