Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1905-09-05
OF MODERN EDUCATION.
Splendid Opportunity Afford
ed Kentucky Young Men.

various institutions OF higher learn
ing throughout the land begin the
work Of the next collegiate year,
there are a great many young men
and women who find themselves OBJ !
liged to make final decision con-
corning the institutions which they
shall attend, and the phase of learn
ing to which they shall devote their
attention. In order that a decision
may be made most intelligently, it is
necessary that the prospective college
student have the advantage Of more
than one view point. His own view
point is necessarily somewhat limitC d.
He may imbibe certain prelude es
from his parents, his fellow high
school students, and other associates;
and his teachers and friends, who
are attending or have attended GER
tain institutions, may strive to infu-
ence him to follow one path or an
other. The considerations placed
| before him are not always disinter-
ested and free from personal preju-
dice on the part of his friends; and
quite frequently it happens that
young man finds himself engaged in
study for which he has no liking,
in an institution with the spirit of
which he is not in sympathy b ecause
he has let himself be guided blindly
by his friends.
The writer hopes to present to
young Kentuckians the view from
which higher education of the latest
type must be considered, and the
spirit in which such education must
be sought; he also wishes to indicate
that the State College Of Kentucky
is the place for Kentuckians who
, seek the knowledge she is prepared
to give.
As a rule, the one thing which a
college education gives a man, is self
esteem. If the college student is
energetic and capable, this self es-
TEEN does not hurt him; if he has
less than the mediocre ability, he
energies from the school atmosphere
(even if he does not graduate), with
an opinion Of himself which is out of
all proportion to his ability to pro-
duce results,
In the majority of cases, whether
the graduate admits it to himself or
not, his college life has given him a
strong sense of the Importance of
his individuality. The normal result
of this appreciation of self should be
a strong unremitting endeavor to
achieve a position in life where he
can stand and know. that, by virtue
Of his own work, he can command
the respect and admiration Of his
fellow men.
This is really the spirit Of the new
/ education Everything in modern
| life is measured by results. If knOWl-
edge merely adds to a mans ability
to appreciate certain forms of art
and literature, it cannot be of as
much value to the race, as when it
increases his efficiency in the pro-
gressive development which is so
characteristic of this age. No better
illustration of the advantage Of new
education over the old can be found
than the effect of the application of
the new education in the progress of
Japan.
The technical schools may be con-
sidered as representing the very es-
sence of the spirit Of the new educa-
ton. They are the result of the
worlds demand for efficient men to
cope with the problems of advancing
civilization; and the change in the
attitude of men of affairs to educa-
ton in the applied science during the
past fifty years, is significant.
Before technical schools became a
recognized branch of the higher
learning, so called, the innate desire
of the college graduate to stand
aloof from many forms of honest
labor was commonly accepted. The
chief reason for this acceptance was,
that the rank and file of labor did
not come directly in contact with
college graduates, 80 that there was
not much basis for comparing their
relative values in the complex ma
chinery of production. Besides, la
Dor itself, while finally admitted to
be honorable as we'll as necessary,
was not looked upon as desirable
from the standpoint of the college
student. Comparatively Few had the
time and the funds to pursue a col
Ilege career; so that a young man
possessed Of average intelligence
could spend four easy years at col
lege, and come home to be respected
and admired much more than he de-
served. By judicious silence he
might live in one community all his
life, and his real ignorance never be
discovered.
The marvellous growth of manu-
featuring interests in this country,
has overcome the prejudice against
labor, and made necessary the tech
nical branches of learning. And,
under the present educational sys-
TEN, large numbers of young people,
whose parents never entertained the
| Anouorbt IF a nOllaUa aducafiOp fO,.