The Monticellonian., 1905-10-05
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER

BY MARGARET r.. SANGSTE ER.
 Copyright 1905. by Joseph B. BowesD
 Once in while we fail. do We not, girls? There is something on which we have set our hearts, some perfectly right and desirable thing. but we can not get it. We have tried faithfully to the best of our ability. But we are dis appointed. We feel very much as We would if We saw somebody else climb ing, without the least trouble. to the top of a mountain. while We kept slid ing back to the bottom.
 Every body cannot be equally sue cessful, and a friend or claSsmate often seems to gain without much ef= fort whatever she wants. while We lose IL is so in many departments of life outside of the schoolroom. It is not only that another girl wins the gold medal for proficiency, while We have not even a mention on the honor list; that another always has reports enriched with a double A, while we have only q B or C. but there are other failures that try OUT hearts quite as mach.
 Another girl makes a friendship where We have only slight acquaint- ance. or goes off on a splendid trip to Europe. while we stay at home with out change of scene. The fact is, fl we choose to disturb ourselves about them the small disappointments of life are endless. The great ones, too, occur now and then. It - Lest of charae- ter to meet discouragements braYely and 10 refuse to be downeast and blue when We fall in an attempt through no fault Of our own.
 As write am thinking of a girl friend who has had an experience which will show her mettle and dis. close in its later effect the sort of girl she is. Elizabeth Is quick and clever girl. who learns without taking much trouble, and who has a reputation in her family circle fer extraordinary genius She has always been expected to carry off all the prizes in sight. Her father amuses his friends by the un conscious vanity which prompts him tc boast of Elizabeth's sprightliress. and he is continually repeating her witty speeches and telling any listener whom he can buttonhole the story of her lat est triumphs Her mother has less to say. and Is more tactful. but in her quiet. unobtrusive fashion, she Is just as proud of her daughter and just as convinced of her superior talents as her good husband is. Both these peo- pie, without meaning it. have puffed l NH ;tb hn result that she has come to depend entirely too much on her quickness and has omitted the hard study which at certain points Is indispensable. You may imagine the family consternation and chagriE when Elizabeth failed to pass her senior examinations and was told that she would have to take her last year over If she IS finally to be graduated.
 A year does not look very long to your father and mother, because as people grow older the years seem fair ly to rush along like waves in a hill race, but il seems tremendous thing to a girl of r. It looks to her like a long level stretch of eternity If we | ldlI III ally iuillS " ncL gOull5 WC are tempted to fancy that We never can make up our loss. That is one reasG-a why young people are blue when they ought to see everything In rose-color. Once We allow ourselves to be discour- aged, we a:e handicapped. We are very apt ia such moods to discourage oth- CTS If a girl in Elizabeth's position happens to be preparing to teach. or has in mind determination to be an artist, or journalist, she says to her self, "I may as we'll give it up. There is no use in keeping on. I shall never attain what l wish.
 Never" is a word one hears on the lips of schoolgirls much oftener than one ought.
 |