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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1919)
I ZO 3 MAY a The Chema w aA ínerican P r in t e d a t C h e m a w a , O re g o n , a n d D e v o te d t o th o In t e r e s t * o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n Vol. XXII Wednesday, October 22, 1919 A CHANCE FOR ALL D u rin g chapel exercises on th e evening of O ctober 12 th e talk delivered th e stu d e n ts by S u p t. H all should have caused every young man and y o u n g w om an, boy and girl, present to pause an d take stock of them selves. I t should have m ade them th in k . W hen a stu d en t can reason for him self, and correctly so far as good in stin cts go, he is reasonably safe. T he excellent paper delivered on th is occasion follows: R ight now, at the b eg in n in g of school, is the tim e to have a serious talk w ith yourself and d eterm in e w hat you are going to do w ith th is y ea rs’ o p p o rtu n ities. I t is a m atter w ith yourself, and a serious one. T h e school offers m any ad v an tag es w hich com e to som e of you for th e first tim e and to others, perhaps, for th e last tim e, but in eith er case it is for you to d e cide w hat you will take and how you will tak e it. T h ere is alw ays an equal chance for all w ho have am bition and d eterm in atio n , w hich follows th e old ru le, “ T h ere is alw ays room at th e to p .” O f course we know th a t th is m eans for those who strive; and so it is w ith you. Some will say th a t th ey do not have ability , or th is o r th a t stan d s in th e way. E ach will gain according to his effort; and alth o u g h be may not reach th e h eig h t others do he will reach his own h eig h t, w hich is all th a t is expected. T herefore, if there is an equal chance, aw ake and enter th e contest. T h e adm ission is free and a prize aw aits every honest co ntestan t. Now, stu d en ts, w hat are you going to do w ith your o p p o rtu n ities this year? G reat stress will be b ro u g h t to bear upon you to have you com plete the outlined course of study for the year. In ad d itio n , th ere are m any w orthy th in g s th a t you can do w hich are not o utlin ed in th e specified school courses. Now is th e tim e w hen you can form m any pleasant associations w hich may m ean m uch to y ou in later years. G ood fellow ship should prevail am ong th e stu d e n ts, th u s m aking your school life as joyful as possible. Y our in te re st in all school activities— th e literary societies, debating and class contests, all branches of athletics, th e m usical organizations, and th e social life of the school— is very tiecessary in th e ro u n d in g o u t of a m anly or w om anly ch aracter. M oreover, the m ost im p o rtan t th in g for you to bear in m ind is the fact th a t it is d u rin g these school d ay s th a t your ch aracter is being form ed. W h at will be yo u r object d u rin g th is course? W ill it be to cu ltiv ate a tru e, stro n g , physical, m ental and m oral m anhood and w om anhood, so th a t you can go out into th e world and face its battles w ith a tru e front? Or will you lend yo u r e n No. 3 ergies to the w ork of becom ing skilled in cu n n in g , deceit, and treach ery , to go out w ith a preparation for “ b luffing,” w hich, how ever, bold and im posing it m ay appear, can never brin g you success? It rem ains for you to recognize th e countless bene fits to be derived from your school life at Chem awa and to seek to stren g th en th is link in y o u r chain of stu d e n t years th at it may become one of great d u r ability and usefulness. If I could say ju st the rig h t th in g to n ig h t to arouse am bition and effort on th e part of every stu d e n t w hat a saving it would be in tim e and energy for everybody concerned. A fresh o p p o r tu n ity is present, one in w hich you can not only m ake g reat headw ay, but one in w hich you can in great m easure m ake up for past failures. “ H ow ?” you ask. Sim ply by tak in g hold now and p u ttin g your heart in to your w ork. G ive y o u r undivided atten tio n to every task assigned you and find in it an o pportunity for advancem ent, w hether or not it is exactly pleasing to you. T h ere are no lines of le arn in g in w hich we find ev ery th in g to our lik in g , but usually the hardest w ork b rin g s the g reatest gain. T herefore, do not w ait one day to p lunge in; for ju st so long as you w ait, ju s t s o far behind you will g et. Som e of you will rem em ber w ith hum iliation the resu lts of “ w a itin g ” last y ear— th e difficult lessons at th e last and then the failures in the exam inations. All th at can be avoided if you m ake the m ost of every day as it passes. T h is applies to in d u strial as well as academ ic w ork. A s you know , even g reater im portance will be placed upon the in d u stries this year th a n ever before, and it w ill require m ore in te r est and effort to com plete th e course cred itab ly . Best of all, p ut th e two tog eth er and m ake one branch of w ork help in the o th er. W ith o u t both your education will n o t be com plete. T ry to stu d y to th e best advantage. In order to do all th is you will have to be w ide-aw ake— full of energy and w illing. W illingness is half of th e b a t tle. T h e teacher may do his or her p art, yes, m ote, but unless you have a w illing, cheerful sp irit th e e f fort is lost. T h is has often been fiuug at you be fore, b u t it is certain ly w’orth repeating. You do th e learning, as w ith o u t your effort and c o operation th e teacher can do n othing for you. Do not w ait to be w ound up like a clock and set going, b u t be ready and w illing to en ter into y o u r lesson w ith a sp irit of w anting to learn for th e sake of your own ad vancem ent, and not because you m ust, or because y o u r teacher is anxious to have you do it. R em em ber th a t the school is for you and th e sooner you get in and dig th e sooner you will reach the top.
