The Chemawa American, October 29, 1919, Image 1

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.T h e Chemawa American
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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 to th e in t e r e s t s o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n
Vol. XXII
Wednesday, October 29, 1919
accept responsibility and opportunity
It is difficult to state with certainty that a given oue
of Supt. Hall’s assembly addresses is better than those
that 'have preceded it, but to the writer it seemed that
the recent address which we are publishing was fully
on a par with any of his talks to our students—any
way, it was spleudid. The address follows:
If you have a wild longing to break loose and rove
(as several have already done this year); if you feel
that responsibility is unbearable; in a word, if your
ambition and purpose seems to have deserted you,
don’t desert your post, but hold on to your job. It
is the opportunity of your life to exert your will and
determination.1 Hold on and everything will come
right.
All worthy doing—patient, careful doing—reacts
with happy effect upon the doer. This is an old truth,
but it will be new to some, and many who think they
know all about it need to have it laid on afresh and
rubbed in. According to the intelligence and persist-
ence and fidelity a student or arty-one else puts into
his work puts something into him. He gets a reward
worth more than money; namely, strength, experience,
discipline.
Often we are led to think that many of our students
are dodging opportunities as they go through school ,
at least it has been my experience that many pupils
seem to expect these opportunities to come around
again and again. If they do not get their lessons
perfectly, or something more interesting takes their
attention at the time they should be studying a lesson,
they think they can make it up later or secure assist­
ance from the instructor. But perhaps the right op­
portunities does not come and the lesson remains
unlearned. There are many opportunities coming to
you 3ay by day. Seize them as they come; do not
wait for some big opportunity. The chances are that
the little ones are big onps in disguise or that you do
not know the big ones when you see them. Right
now, under every condition,, is the time to take advan­
tage of your opportunities.
If the three hours you have in the classrooms afe
spent in leisurely skimming over the lessons and
trusting to luck that you will be called upon first, or
if you are depending upon the teacher to folldw the
No. 4
line for recitations and count the verse, word, question,
or problem which would fall to you, memorize it for
the time, how much useful knowlege can you store
away? If in your arithmetic you merely work for the
“ answer,” trying the problem forward, backward, or
any way in order to get the figures that stand for the
correct result, do you think, you will ever develop
ability to reason out or calculate with understanding
the practical propositions that you will meet in busi­
ness or in ordinary every-day life? If you mechan­
ically read or memorize your lessons in history, will
you get an actual understanding of the relations of the
present generation and all its civilization to the past
ages? To answer these questions “ no” is the only
answer. So in all your lessons mechanical and vague
study will bring but little useful knowledge; will use up
much valuable time, and it will bring you nothing
that you can feel is your own to keep. On the other
hand, if you face each lesson with a definite purpose
you can make it practical, you can make it serve you,
and it will become a part of your own thoughts. To
accomplish this you must get in and dig, dig to the
bottom,for it is there that you will find the treasure.
You will realize, sadly, if you are fortunate enough
to go to high school, that a superficial preparation is
a great hindrance and the chances are it will be
against your success. You may appear to have a fairly
good fund of knowledge, but the keen competition of
the white students in the public school classes will
soon prove the kind of study you applied and the
methods you followed while here in school. Remem­
ber, it is digging, not skimming, that saves time and
brings results.
After a season of freedom from study it ’is, always
hard to fit info the requirements and discipline of the
daily routine. If it were not for the monotonous
grind and drudgery in attaining our purpose the effort
would always be a pleasure. But the drudgery and
grind must come; they are three-fourths of the process.
In all your academic work do not halt at the disagree­
able point. Consider that the exercise develops your
mental powers as the drill develops the mucles and
you will soon find your tasks easier and your progress
greater. Take an interest in your work from the be­
ginning. Do not wait until you see the last half of
the year coming around to make up what should have
been a steady advancement. Get into the heart of your
work right now. Put in the foundation faithful daily
work and the end of the year will find you stronger
and richer, both in knowledge and character.