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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1920)
I 3 MAY 8 he ChemawaAmerican P r i n t e d a t C h e m a w a , O r e g o n , a n d D e v o t e d to t h e i n t e r e s t s o f I n d i a n E d u c a t i o n Vol. X X II W ednesday, J a n u a r y 21, 1920 THE P O SSIB IL IT IE S OF YO URSELF On the ev ening of Ja n . 11th, in chapel, S u p t. H all delivered the follow ing splendid talk to those assem bled: S tuden ts, I believe you realize that I am sincere in my desire to help you grow in to good women and men m ental as well as physical— not poor and weak men and women, so, by reason of my relation to you, I feel it a d u ty at these chapel m eetings to try to say so m ething th a t will help, and will “ s tic k .” Saint Paul is quoted in the Bible as saying: “ Be ye tra n s form ed by the ren ew in g of your m inds; ” th at is, by ch a n g in g , en n o b lin g , p u rify in g and freshening o n e ’s th o u g h ts. O ne of th e h ardest lessons we have to learn in keeping fit is th a t we build o u r bodies w ith our th o u g h ts as m uch as by o u r m aterial food. It is a lit eral fact th a t m an does not live by bread alone. O ur bodies are disco rd an t or harm onious, diseased or healthy, in accordance w ith our h abitual th o u g h t. T here are those who, h aving learned th is lesson, have had th eir counten an ces so altered in a single year by persistent rig h t th in k in g th a t one w ould scarcely know th e m . T h ey have changed faces th a t were lined with do u b t, disfigured w ith fear and a n x ie ty , and scarred by w orry and vice, to a positive reflection of hope, cheer and jo y . W e are alw ays expressing outw ardly w hat is g o in g on in w ard ly . Before we move a finger or bat an eve we first th in k it; w h a t ever we do is prom pted th ro u g h a th o u g h t. T h a t is the reason th at I am d raw in g your atten tio n to the need of th in k in g rig h t, so th at you will be moved habitually to do th e rig h t th in g and move u pw ard in the line of progress. If you w ant to be successful, if you desire to be loved, if you w ish to be h ap p y ,o r lucky, or m asterful, th in k on these subjects and hold them as yo u r ideals. “ As a m an th in k e th in his h eart, so is h e .” H old th e ideal of yourself as you long to be,alw ays,everyw here, and in proportion to yo u r vigorous affirm ation along these lines will it become realized in your life. But o n e’s am bition and ideals need constant w atching, for when you begin to slig h t y o u r w ork, to sh irk , to give poor service, a rapid decline in your character takes No. 16 place. God m ade us to be honest and any d ep ar tu re from it ta in ts the w hole character. H onesty m eans strict reliability in your w ork. It m eans, also, accuracy, carefulness and honesty in your w ork. It m eans tru th . It m eans, too, th a t you m ust not steal a n o th e r’s money or p ro p erty , and it does not mean th a t you can do poor work or blunder th ro u g h life in a careless, indifferent m anner. N o th in g can give you th e glow of satisfaction, the uplift and th rill, w hich com es from d oing perfect w ork. It fits our very n a tu res and harm onizes w ith our being. It is doing th in g s a little b etter th an the other fellow, being a a little neater, quicker, m ore accurate, a little m ore polite and obliging, m ore energ etic,h elp fu l, th a n those ab o u t you th at develops the individual and alw ays helps him for better th in g s. Y our success depends upon follow ing and living up to h igh ideals and keeping y o u r th o u g h ts clean as w ell as proving your m ettle by your actions. So, s tu d e n ts, the m ain value in your career is in the su g g e s tion th a t you allow n o th in g to enter your life th at will in ju re your ideal o r lower vour stan d ard of quality. Prove your persistence and determ ination by follow ing an ideal and be satisfied w ith n o th in g but the good, an d I ’ll say th a t you will not fall back to the rear of th e procession. It is the co n stan t effort to be first- class in ev e ry th in g th a t one attem p ts th at conquers. It is in everybody to be first-class in som ething if he w ill. T h ere is no excuse for incom petence on the p art of any pupil at this school, for the o p portunity to grow in to the best m anhood and w om anhood is rig h t here at C hem aw a, and I would th a t every stu d e n t shall take advantage of such opp o rtu n ity . F or the first tim e in over five years the G erm an flag has been raised on a m erchant ship sailing from an A m erican p o rt. T h e steam er M anchuria of the A m erican line sailed from New Y ork for H am burg carry in g a cargo of 1 0 ,0 0 0 tons, w hich consisted p rin cipally of co tton, w heat and copper and 15,000 bags of mail for G erm any and A u stria. T h is was the first large mail sent direct to G erm any since the war. A num ber of passengers on th e ship carried as baggage a large am ount of candy, cakes, ham s, and o th er foodstuffs. zc.