River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-06-27
COMMENCEMENT.

and redundant i'm slool graduates. II
is the month of cbmmencements a
paradoxical conditi ~ for the terminal
climax of the race the school eur
riculum-the end ts the beginning.
The period of examinations may de-
termine for the noSice and the under
graduate the test Of his ability to
commence with the Glass in the next
school year? Or has the successful
graduate appropriated the equipment
that qualities him ito commence the
race of life without other extraneous
aid? This is the Sseason when the
sweet girl graduate, adorns her person
with added charms, reads her own
thoughts, or some other persons, to
admiring throngs who congratulate
her, and deservedlf, for her accom-
plishments. TheI young man also
with assurance yalkrously enunciates
sublime ideas which he has accumu-
lated with diligegt research. The
graduate frequently thinks he knows
more than he is gilsn credit for, and
some people are occasionally SO ungen-
erous as to presume that he knows
more or the day 5f his triumphant
graduation than nc ever does after it.
But "that depen9s." lie has read
that immortal eleunciation Of Soc
rates, whom the ora :le pronounced the
wisest man? 81 khow this one thing:
that / know nothing" Many stud
ent never reaches to this cIimactic
apprehension, at Beast while under
the guardianship asd guidance of his
instructors and ths leading strings of
his alma mater. lie may possibly find
it out in time to rStricye his fortunes.
When thrown ints the whirlpool of
life's activities one may 'stem the
tide" if he has lea5ned to swim. One
goes forth to fight. the battle of life
by himself and foS himself. If his
preparation in school has disciplined
him tomeet the enemy, himself armed
cap-a-pie with invL lnerability, Il war
rier 10y tuition, hiA labor was not in
vain. Henry Gloves and Andrew
Carnegie have expressed the unquali-
fed conviction thst the young man
who secludes himself in a university
for years, say fronSthe age of Is to %,
has lost to business the best four years
of his life, an opportunity taken adj
van tage of by his liyal in the actual
business experience of the details of
trade that leaves ae college student
discouraged in tie rear. Probably
these eminent Business men know
whereof they spdak, and the claim
may be correct, "Sther things being
equal" This striSture, however, does
not effect the ! professions. The
preacher, the lawyer, the instructor in
schools, the joutlalist, needs the
special preparatioS of the schools; to
them it has BECOME a condition of
absolute necessitWto enable them to
meet successfully competition in these
professions. The1 wise student has
learned that facts knowledge of books,
culture are only tie concomitants, or
adjuncts OF truY school education.
ut is the liberal blinded man, not the
man of narrow n4itations who makes
the success of today"
The study Of tlfe popular branches
in the curriculum of modern institu-
tions of higher learning enlarges the
area of mental Eision, broadens the
conceptions, INCREASES the power Of
the mind. The Emergencies of life
are always the unexpected; expert
ence seldom repeats itself in the same
trying circumstances.
The paramount object of APP
propriate study is development,
growth, characte9, discipline; to learn
to think, to reason, to discriminate,
to determine; 70 lay aside the
frivolities of life, ITO diyest ones self
of prejudice and fias; to strive to at
tain to an adequJle conception Of the
true conditions III life, TO acquire a
fortitude to meet manfully its duties,
and valor to overcome its difficulties;
to learn the wisdom of self-control; to
be able ''to acqsIit themselves like
men" and 60 so dut into the world of
activities calm, rcs0lute, judicious,
invincible. "Hang your sensibilities, "
says Carlyle; stop your sniyelling
raptures and you r equally snivelling
complaints! leave off general
emotional tom-f4olery and go to work
like men. "-YpsSaHti Commercial