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MAY 8
The Chemawa American
P r in te d at C h em atva, Oregon, a n d D evoted to the Interests o f In d ian E d u c a tio n
Vol. X X II
W ednesday, J a n u a r y 14, 1920
WORK A N D CHARACTER
No. 14
of w o rk —th at w hich is cheap and a fraud.
\ \ e m ust learn from the experiences of o th ers—
W e glow habitually into th at w ith w hich we come
in
contact.
It becomes a part of us, and the habit of
from the advice we receive from those older and
w iser th an ourselves. T h ere is none of us w hose p e r doing th in g s in a slovenly way always leaves its m ark
on th e ch aracter of a person. W hat we do, w hat you
sonal experiences in life w ould place him far or high
do and w hat all of us do, should be done w ith a view
on the road to know ledge; all of us have to levy on the
to th o ro u g h n ess— put q uality into your w ork. Most
experiences of others, and listen to th e ir counsel, and
young people do not realize th at the education, the
com fort, the satisfaction, th e general im provem ent,
read books, for in these w ays only can we acquire
learning sufficient for our present day needs and for yes, the bracing up of th e en tire individual, come
from doing one th in g absolutely rig h t, which o u t
our needs as they are likely to appear to us tom orrow
w eighs a thousand tim es the value of m any botched
an d the day after. K eep yo u r m ind active and recep or slipshod jobs.
tive, and your eyes and ears open, and store aw ay as
The en tire person is influenced l>v the way of o n e ’s
usual m anner of doing th in g s. T h e habit of th o r
you w ould piecious corn in tim e of fam ine every grain
oughness
and accuracy builds up th e m ind, im proves
of know ledge th a t is presented as you travel the b y
the w hole character. And on th e co n trary , doing
p ath s th ro u g h th e sands of tim e. N early every S u n
th in g s in a loose, half-hearted, careless m anner injures
day evening S upt. H all has delivered papers of g reat th e m en tality , dem oralizes the th in k in g process and
value to all w hen addressing those assem bled in
pulls th e stu d en t dow n to low er levels. E very half-
chapel. E very-one of these ta lk s have been full of done lesson, every half-done or botched up piece of
w ork th a t you do leaves its bad effects behind and
good advice to all. T h ey have pointed o u t the p ath
takes away som e of your self-respect. You in ju re
to success, to good citizen sh ip , to a full and happy
yourself for doing your best ju st in proportion to the
life. T hese addresses have been good to listen to,
num b er of tim es you allow' yourself to do poor w ork
and they m ake m ig h ty good read in g , and subject
of any kind, until finally all self-respect vanishes,
confidence goes w ith it, and w hen th at happens
m atter well w orth stu d y in g . T h e discourse of S upt.
you
are no longer of m uch use to yourself or a n y
H all on th e evening of Ja n u ary 4th , was of such e x
one else. You are only ju n k thereafter.
cellence th a t we are pu b lish in g it, as follows:
So, now at the very com m encem ent of the year 1920,
W e are now com m encing th e last half of our school
be honest with yourself; go into your work and stu d y
year, w hich alw ays has im pressed me as th e best part determ ined to w in out, give yourself a chance, p u t
fo rth y o u r best endeavors and not your second best.
of the year, for in th a t part our stu d en ts have reached
You
will like yourself better and be liked by others,
th e ir strid e and progress is m ore rap id . I w ant to
and in the end w ill be of some consequence in life at
talk a little w hile to n ig h t on th a t old subject of school and a success after you leave. I would like
W ork and C h a ra c te r.’’ Do you realize th a t it takes
every stu d e n t at C hem aw a, and the w orkers also, to
honest w ork to m ake an honest, straig h t-fo rw ard c h a r adopt this form ula: “ D uring the ensuing year I will
acter? H ow may of you observe carelessness, slip determ in e as nearly as possibie to do those tasks w hich
I shall have to preform from start to finish in order to
shodness, lack of thoro u g h n ess, in o th er students?
succeed, and n o th in g under the sun shall divert mv
The habit of d o in g poor, slovenly w ork will, after efforts from finishing every task w hich I begin in a
aw hile, m ake a stu d e n t dishonest in o th er th in g s. T he
thorough m a n n e r.”
stu d e n t who h ab itually slig h ts his w ork (b y w ork I
It is said th at a high school stu d e n t has tw elve
y
ea
rs' advantage over a gram m ar stu d e n t in chances
m ean physical as well as m e n tal) slig h ts his ch aracter.
Botched w ork m akes a botched life, for the q u ality of ot succeeding in business lines on account of the
m ental train in g acquired in seeking out, grasping,
o u r w ork is a part of us. E very poor piece of work
and ap p ly in g the principles behind th e various studies.
you do, be it in feeding horses, cooking a meal, iro n It is also said th at a u niversity stu d e n t has a propor
tionate advantage over the high school stu d en t, and
in g a dress, cleaning the y ard, or w hatever it m ay be,
so
on. All of w hich clinches my arg u m en t th at to
is an enem y w hich p ulls you dow n— keeps you from
succeed you m ust have th e m ental qualification to get
progressing. F o r n o th in g kills am bition or low ers
ahead, and to acquire faith and honesty in yourself
th e standard quicker than fam iliarity w ith a low grade
you m ust do vour w ork th o ro u g h ly .