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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1921)
I id . .A I 3 MAY 3 The Chemawa American 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. X X III W ednesday, J a n u a r y 12, 1921 CHARACTER, A N D REPUTA TIO N S tu d en ts, you who rem ain at Chem aw a for a term of years and com plete your full course in w hatever vocation you have chosen and g rad u ate w ith good principles and a fine ch aracter, backed w ith a good rep u ta tio n , are m ade for life. T h is rep u tatio n is b et te r than the g reatest financial capital. I t will m ake you friends and open up a sure way to honor, h a p piness and easy circum stances. How m ortified some of us would be if we knew ju st how our associates rated us. F or in stan ce, one of us m ig h t be rated 100 for politeness, 75 for k in d ness, 50 for tru th fu ln ess, 25 for a b ility , and so on. E very tim e we have dealings, or com e in contact w ith another, we g et a ra tin g . People know w h eth er we are advan cin g or retro g ra d in g . E ach and every one of us go th ro u g h life labelled all over w ith tags for those w ho know us. W e m ay be rated high in most respects, b u t th e general average m ay be cu t low by some vicious hab it. If you have p u t y o u r w hole self into your daily life w hile here yo u r w ords will have m uch force, your influence m uch w eight. If th a t w hole self be tru e and h ig h , pure and k in d , vigorous and forceful, you can do w hat you will. E very act of y ours is a guide board th at tells people about you and indicates the way you have lived, so, aside from h av in g a definite aim , and th a t aim lived up to conscientiously and efficiently, it pays in co n te n tm e n t and success. Do we have m any stu d e n ts here who live day by day w ithou t a ru d d er to steer them? Shiftless p u r poseless, d riftin g along day after day w ithout purpose or plan, w ith no stro n g aim to advance. Do we have any of th a t kind here? C hem aw a resorts to every m eans to ex p an d and d e velop your possibilities; she urges you to stru g g le along day by d ay , secu rin g a little here and a little th e re u ntil you have reached the sta tu re of a rounded out m an or w om an. W e try in every reasonable way to induce you to progress, to arouse the best th a t is in you, presen tin g to you pictures of success in order to have you put forth y o u r best efforts un til you m ake them real in your life. T his is w hat we are tr y in g to do. We w ant yo u r co-operation, your p e r severence, your application to y o u r w ork, th en by n No. 14 patience and in d u stry you can g rad u ate w ith honor. You can n o t get there, how ever, by co u n terfeitin g and im itations, fox c u n n in g an d crafty counterfeits are soon detected— you will get ju st w hat you have earn ed . Y our advancem ent com es in proportion to y o u r w o rk —your w orth. O nly th e tru e aud pure can stand th e test. By your w ork and perseverence you show w hat you are m ade of; dare to be yourself; have the courage to be som ebody. E very deed you perform stan d s forth to your cred it or discredit and prophesies yo u r fu tu re . K eep y o u r record clean. T h e test of the stu d e n t is m anifested in the sp irit in w hich he goes about his w ork. If he goes about it g ru d g in g ly , if his enthusiasm and love for it do not lift it out of th e “ com m onness” and m ake it a delight instead of a bore, he will not go very far. W hat you do is a p art of yourself. It is the expression of w hat you stand for. W hen you see a s tu d e n t’s w ork you see him p ractically as he is. W e cannot th in k very m uch of ourselves w hen we are not honest in ou r work w hen we are not d o in g ou r best. You cannot plead w eakness or h andicap for failure. T h e fact is, a large p art of th e failures on p art of som e boys and g irls is due to d o w n rig h t laziness, an unw illingness to m ake an effort. W hen a stu d e n t ceases to fight, ceases to try , you cannot do m uch for him except to endeaver to im bue him w ith self faith , and even th at is im possible unless such a stu d e n t will show som e in terest in him self. T h is k in d of a stu d e n t will d rift along from one th in g to an o th er and be a “ no b o d y ,” ju st because he does not face th e rig h t w ay. If you feel th a t you are down and o u t, and ev ery th in g about you looks black and d iscouraging, ju s t try the e x p e ri m ent of facing the other w ay— tow ard hope and e x pectancy. Resolve w ith all th e vigor you can m u ster th a t you are going to have your education. K eep at it p ersisten tly and tak e it from us th a t very soon th in g s will appear m ore b rig h t, hopeful and c h e e rfu l. G rit is the m aster key w hich unlocks all difficulties. N o su b stitu te for tenacity of purpose has ever been discovered. N o th in g takes the place of clean g rit. Look out for th e period in y o u r school life w hen you are tem pted to tu rn back or stop school. T h ere is th e d a n g e r p o int. (Continued on page 4)
