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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1926)
13 MAY 8 ' The ChemawaAmerican Printed at Chemawa, Oregon, and Devoted to the Interests of Indian Education Vol. XXVII Wednesday, January 13, 1926 RESOURCEFUL PEOPLE WANTED Never before was there such a demand for the ex ceptional, the resourceful, man or woman, those who can grasp the needs of a situation and solve them with their resourcefulness, their energy; and there never was a time, it would seem, when they were so hard to find. The resourceful persons are always on the alert, are always polite and attentive and obliging, and re gard their work as an opportunity to prove their metal —the kind of stuff they are made of—and who are always preparing themselves for better things. The exceptional, the resourceful person, never leaves things half done, but carries everything to a complete finish and is on the watch for every improve ment. An exceptional student encourages the dull or backward boy or girl, or those who do not seem able to get hold of the school work in general. He is al ways ready to give a lift whenever needed and has a word of cheer for the discouraged. Young people who are sticklers for hours, who are afraid of working after the whistle blows, or the bugle sounds, who want to leave their work on the minute or a little before, who arealways late, never get very far and are not missed when they are gone. But those boys and girls who hang onto their tasks and stick and dig when other students are in a hurry to get away show promise and are sure of steady progress. Such ones do not measure the hours by the clock, or their obligation to the government or state that pays their bills; they do not feel when they begin earlier or stay later that it is an injustice. A readiness, a willingness, to do anything at any time, a disposition to oblige, to accommodate, these are qualities that win everybody’s admiration. There is nothing which will put you in a more fav orable light with the academic and industrial teachers at Chemawa, or elsewhere, than for you to anticipate their wants and make them feel that you are trying to help them carry the load—to make their work a little easier. Think for them—plan for them, if you can. They will appreciate it and will gradually learn to de pend upon you. In this way you may make yourself indispensible and possibly develop yourself into a leader. It is astonishing how few young men and women No. 16 who are ambitious to get on in the world are capable of independent thought and action. Very few of them, comparatively, are leaders; the great majority are followers. This is one of the things which keep young men and women back. If there is anything in the world which people in authority want around it is those people capable of suggesting something, who do not stand paralyzed in an emergency, but who can act independently. We never learn much by simply hanging around —doing just what we are told to do and nothing more. It is the progressive youngster who keeps his thinking cap on, who makes suggestions, plans, and is deter mined to advance. It is the leaders, not followers, that are wanted; young people who can start right and right away. If there is anything that keeps a young person in bad with an emyloye it is a manifes tation of indifference to the work in hand, a selfish ness that measures every demand by personal interest. Employes and employers are never blind to what is goingon around them, and though they may often seem unobservant they are always watching the stu dents and young people entrusted to their care. Such employes and employers always knows who shirks, who watches the clock, who clip off a half-hour here and there; who comes late. In other words, those in charge of a department of any nature keeps thoroughly informed in regard to the work and general conduct of each person under them. The men and women who have done things have been prodigious workers, particularly during the time when they were struggling to get an education and to establish themselves in life. Students, young readers, when it seems impossible to get ahead, when argu ment, influence, logic, pull, have done their best and you are about to give up, then is the time to marshall your grit and persistency, your bulldog tenacity, to step in and by sheer force and “stick-to-it-iveness” win out. Do you realize that many people remain in so-called lowly positions for a life time with practically no ad vancement in salary or prospects? Such people lack enterprise; they work mechanically and insist upon short hours, and are not the kind of material which (Continued on page 4)
