Image provided by: Library of Congress; Washington, DC
About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1922)
JA K 8 « 3 MAr « The Chemawa American P r in te d a t C h e m a w a , Vol. XXV V A LU E O r e g o n , a n d D s 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 W ednesday, D ecem ber 13, 1922 OF GOOD H A BIT S Y oung people, if a high purpose at C hem aw a is your sta rtin g point and the all con q u erin g m otive, no tim e m ust be lost in ad o p tin g it. Now is the tim e—rig h t now. The decisive tim e w ith every-one is w hen the am bition is fired and the will takes com m and. U ntil then im pulses, freaks, indifference, perhaps laziness, rules. M ust we adm it th at w ith the great m ajority of y o ung people th e h ig h er am bition is never fired at all? W e will adm it th a t soft su rro u n d in g s stifle m otive and paralyze effort. It is said w ith some tru th th at our In d ian schools do not require sufficient self-denial and sustained effort on th e part of a stu d e n t because ev ery th in g comes so easily; th a t a good m any of those w ho atten d drift; only a com parative few w ith th e m anhood or w om an hood of th e h ig h est type realize th e ir o p p o rtu n ities and take full advantage of them . Laziness is easy; labor is h ard . C andidly, now, do you th in k the application of in d u stry and persistence required to fit you for som e th in g in life w orth w hile is effort lost? H igh c h a r acter costs som ething. If it was m oney, and if the school and fath er or friends would pay it, by all m eans it would be th e th in g to have. But suppose it m eans h ard , unflin ch in g in tellectu al w ork and denial of a lot of the th in g s th a t one likes— w hy, of course th a t comes too high! T h e g reater num ber reject the term s. T h ey will not pay the price. H ere and th ere a stro n g bov or girl w ith faith in them selves and in th eir undeveloped powers set the high aim before them , sum m on th eir will to th eir com m and and m arch forw ard. A fter th e aim, or m ain purpose of using every o p p o rtu n ity to advance, c h a r acter begins to build. If the purpose is a high one the am bitious stu d en t will attain his end m uch more quickly by know ing how best to use th e m eans at his com m and. T h ere is one powerful aid th at should be seized at th e very outset. It will w ork for you early and late, never tir ing, never v ary in g , and stops only when life ceases. It is easy to enlist it in your behalf, eith er for good or evil, and it is hard to shake it off if vou conclude at any tim e you have had enough of it. W h at is it? H abit. It is very easy to form or prevent a h a b it—very hard No. 9 to break one w hen form ed. If you doubt this try for yourself on th a t habit w hich you can “ stop at any tim e .” It is positively vital th a t you form correct habits and crush bad ones rig h t at the sta rt. T he longer a bad habit is tolerated the m ore hopeless becomes the u p rooting of it. H ere are som e th in g s th at should be form ulated into habit: T h in k carefully on every s u b ject in connection w ith your class and industrial w ork; assim ilate the know ledge th at comes from observation, study and reading; be as correct as you know how in conversation and m anners; keep reg u lar hours; have physical exercise; apply in d u stry and econom y; use m ethod in w ork of every kind. It is needless to say th a t the opposite of these habits — slipshod th in k in g , careless observation and read in g , lack of physical exercise and reg u lar hours, laziness, e tc ., is far easier to crystalize than the rig h t and h e lp ful w ay. So it behooves the young man or woman who desires th is potent influence of habit to w ork for them in the stru g g le to reach the top to stop every bad habit, to rally the full force of will and crush it o u t. In like m anner let them patien tly , p ersistently p lan t, cultivate, and nourish the habits th a t help u n til they are u n alterably fixed and become sure com panions for life. It has been said th a t “ tim e is th e stuff of w hich life is m a d e .” E very young person here or elsew here has th e sam e am ount of it in a year. O ne im proves it and harvests great resu lts— an o th er w astes and g ath ers fail ure. T he first are called lucky, the second u n fo rtu nate, and the u n fo rtu n a te form th e mass of m ankind everyw here it should be noted. H ence, use your tim e rig h tly , shape ev erv th in g to it, and th en make th in g s go th at way. T h is schem e will go to pieces quickly unless backed by a persistent p u r pose and a determ ination th at w ins. W hen you w ork, w ork— p u t your w hole m ind and h eart into it; know n o th in g else; do ev ery th in g the very best; distance everybody about you. T h is will not be h ard, for the other fellows are not try in g m uch. Be alw ays ready for the next step up. If a vocational farm er, be an e x pert. If a m ic h in ist, try to know as soon as possible as much as your in stru cto r; if in school go to the head (C o n tin u e d on page 4)
