Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1905-06-13
Response BY c. C. lJpton
delivered at the the banquet that was
given in honor of the Glass OF O5 on
the evening Of Wednesday, May 81:

1Uuf SraQuaGlOn marks an 1mpOr-
tant epoch in your lives. You have
now reached the goal toward which
you have been fondly looking for years,
and stopping for a brief review of
your school life and the work, and
contemplating the breaking OF the old
ties that bound you to your teachers
and classmates as we'll as to your
work, and realizing its full meaning,
you are doubtless stirred with
emotions that make you feel 1T has
been reached all too soon.
AS you review your past life and are
filled with its recollections and
attendant emotions, which all UNI
hidden rush in upon and almost over
ride present events and Impressions,
you also find yourselves confronted
with the future and its problems. AS
you try to luok into the future Macy
panorama opens up before your
wondering senses and you can see
displayed all the various fields of
human activity, each inviting you to
its labors. This is simply Gods way
of bringing you face to face with the
future and bidding you choose the
field of human activity upon which
which you will bestow the labors of
your life.
The human mind knows from the
experiences Of the past and the condi-
lions Of the present, that tomorrows
will continue to come with unceasing
regularity, and that with these
tomorrows will also come the indi-
vidual wants and cares, joys and
SORROWS of humanity, and perhaps
there is nc time in life when one is SO
uncertain about what the tomorrows
have In store for him as when he bids
farewell to school life.
Up to this time you have been
fitting yourselves for the future In
the way the wisdom Of the ages
directs, by securing an education, and
the better the education the better
equipped are you to enter the ranks
of those whose labors make this earth
the beautiful and comfortable habi-
tation of man.
I hope that in your school work you
have learned the great lesson of life
that an individual must succeed by
his own efforts; in other words, each
individual must work out his own
salvation. Chance and accident some
times throw position or wealth into
the hands of the individual suddenly
or unexpectedly, but In all these
instances the recipient is the same
individual he was before his new
acquisition, and If weak and worth.
less then, will be weak and worthless
still, If strong and self-reliant then
be will be strong and self-reliant still,
and the more capable of assuming the
new duties and responsibilities which
this sudden acquisition throws upon
him.
\ y The foundation stone upon
which success rests is hard, untiring
work. By it all things are accom-
.plished. = = Work reauires enar-
gy, but the greatest energy misdirect-
ed or misapplied is very likely, If not
certain, to result in failure, hence
before you commence to work deter.
mine what you are going to work at.
This necessitates the choice of vo.
cation. How are you going to choose
1T? l answer, by careful study Of
your own individual desires, adapt
ability and capability. II you have
no taste or inclination for form, art,
or color, you are not destined for a
great artist. II melody end music
have no charm for you, you are not
destined to become great pianist,
and should advise you not to under
take either. These illustrations are
sufficient to convey to you the idea
which desire, namely; that in select
ing vocation, adoption is the first
thing to consider. Select one then
that you not only know you will like
but one which you are both physical
ly and mentally able to efficiently
pursue and when you have thus
selected one, go into 1T with energy
and determination.
Obstacles will doubtless beset your
pathway all through life's journey,
and frequently these willseem almost
insurmountahle, but you will find
none SO great that intelligent, con-
tinued effort will not remove.