The Ward County independent., 1906-09-06
WANT OF PREPARATION
(The Practical Age.)

(The Practical Age.)
Call 1t what we may, it is lament
verve and this push Of ours. which
under lawful conditions are commend
able enough. have driven or lured,
into the positions Of the world an ar
my Of the unprepared, ntne-tenths OF
whom fail. There is something in
the bone and nerve Of the American
boy that chafes under preparation.
The average youth, taught to believe
In his miraculous adaptability, goes
crippled into the world, where, from
his very meagerness Of preparation,
he must fail; where his failure comes
through his own awkwardness, his
own deplorable want of preparation.
Occasionally, it is true, rare union
Of good and clear brain, adaptability,
and pluck, will transform such a
youth into self-made man; but it is
infrequently so. AS a usual thing.
the want Of preparation and the To-
gical lack of ability sooner or later
reveal themselves, when the candidate
must fall into the misery Of failure.
The over confident, tickle, gay young
man has for generations laughed in
derision at the millions who toll as
students in America. The present
conditions render such a mental at
titude inept to the occasion. About
all the success in this world, in every
profession and in every branch OF
business, is got by the students who,
for by far the most part, were fittest
students in some school before carry
ing their studies into the world; and
in this world is held fast by these
same students who are making the
attainment to it forever higher and
harder to get. So that, as is happen
ing today, the unprepared man, II
he be very well muscled, is about as
serviceable as horse. Yet the pre-
paratory schools-the high schools,
business colleges, and universities.
continue to be lightly thought of. If
not wholly disregarded, by the eager.
unrestrained, unprepared young man
who fails.
Into the lives Of such young men
there creeps a tacit suspicion that all
men are similarly weak as they, and
are but fortunate enough to succeed
In the make -believe-the mere pre-
sumption-of power. They grow al
most to suspect real power OF not
existing; to look, as upon hypocrisy,
on the mental and moral strength
that is modest, unassuming, conser-
vative, admirable. There is this
about the unprepared young man,
with individual exceptions, that he
cannot respond to real ability; he
cannot recognize or measure 1t; about
all he can do is to make most
awkward spectacle of himself when
he tries to initiate it. 1t would seem
that personal pride, revengeful en-
ulation, or some Of this if not bet
ter nature, would get into the tyro's
head and heart, and spur him out OF
his sleep, or lassitude, Or folly, into
some semblance of solid ability. But
nothing of this sort happens. He con-
tinues the fresh, over-confident indiv-
idual, or the dreamy, reflective one
who thinks Of personal power as
some "far of divine event." and is
content to suspect all men Of equally
poor qualifications.
The unprepared young man, always
unable to meet emergencies, will be
with us for an indefinite time, be-
cause the insiduous young character
will endure for generations. But,
and what is for the greater part very
pleasant to contemplate, his knavery
will always bring him to grief. He
will always be found out and con-
demned. He may erect out OF the
work of others a tower thinking to
climb into the clouds Of his dream,
but he will always fall-he and his
tower.
With so many experiences Of this
sort, it is mild reproof when we la
ment this puerile premature activity
in America. Our boasted adaptabili-
ty can never take the place Of pre-
paration, and long years Of prepara-
tion, nor can superfous energy be-
come the only requisite to success.
Schools everywhere are alive wiofp
energy, adaptability, and preparation.
It Is the young man possessed of the
three who wins.