Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1921-08-25
WHY 60 TO COLLEGE

BY Harold Howe, Chapman

wide awake young person, who has
lust graduated from high school or
has been out Of school few years,
asks over and again the question:
SHOULD j make the effort to go to
COllege?"
In taking any new step, young
people are governed, though uncon-
sciously, to great extent by the
example set by their seniors.
Careers are nodded not to any small
degree by the conclusions drawn
from the lives of other people. In
making his decision about going to
college, as well as In purchasing
new suit or dress, the young person
will more than likely first see what
his seniors did and endeavor to pro-
fit from their experiences. This Is
the logical thing to do yet faulty
conclusions are sometimes drawn Tor
the natural ability, environment,
and other circumstances which are
instrumental in mOlding character
are often not taken into cOnsidera-
ton in the individual under analysis.
For example, let us take the case
of several high school alumni in any
community that we may choose.
There is Fred Jones who has been
away at college two years. The
only advancement one can see In
Fred is his ability in disposing of
Dads coin, his creased hair, and his
increased self-esteem. While on the
other hand, John Smith or Mary
Browne, who graduated with Fred
but did not attend college, are rapid
ly attaining success in whatever
line of work they have taken up.
There may be only one parallel in
stance in the entire county but 1t Is
often enough to color the whole sit
uatiOn and make the serious young
person think that college Is the least
profitable place one could spend four
years, so far as any advancement Is
concerned.
Right at that point is where the
Young person should be reminued
that of all the college graduates he
has known, by far the greater num-
her Of successful and leaders of men,
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tended college The fact is each
and every one got what he went
after and therein lies the key to the
whole situation A college with its
, vast means of dispensing knowledge
{ gives to one only what he works for
1t is no place Of recreation wherein
lives are made over but it is a place
HavnlG1l in the
channels where application Is ap
3 piled.
True, there are few yOung per
sons. like the one mentioned
though very few for college stand
Z ards make it unpleasant for them
who go to college for good time
{ They abuse the privileges of our cot
lege social life and squander theh
time and money without gaining
anything further than what thes
Z call good time. 1t is no fault OF
the college that such persons fai
{ for college cam be compared to q
, carpenter No matter how good his
tools or how excellent his workman
shin, he cannot make good house
out Of badly warped boards. Neither
can college, with it's excellent
!. tools Of instruction, mold finished
product out of mind badly warped
with other diversions. Carefully
analyze the case Of any young col
iege person who has not made good
and you will find that he was either
persuaded to attend college against
his own inclination or went there
minus the attitude Of work and
sitcktuitiveness.
On the other hand, there are those
who are very successful without
wasting" four years on a college
education. Yes, but picture what
greater progress they could make
with the aid Of college training.
They are the sort Of young people
that should, by all means, 60 to col
|lege. Statisticans tell you that only
fifteen out of every one thousand
persons in the United States grad
uate from college. One hundred
thirty-lve more out of every thou
sand have just as Highland in some
cases-higher mental ability than
the fifteen in college. Is It not a
shame that such great amount Of
available material for college train
ing should be wasted? And yet
this loss to humanity will continue
as long as such large number Of
young men and women with ability
sacrifice college education for a
four years earlier start in business.
To the young person who has the
inclination to go to college and
means to do business while there we
say, Internationally: ego" Lack
Of finances should never interfere
for the old adage, where there Is a
will there is a way" works admir-
ably in acquiring an education. In
the early days when free schools
were a novelty and only the rich
could afford to 60 to school, wealth,
hence luxury, and education went
hand in hand. Today, the pendu-
lum has swung the other way and
now hard work and education, an
invincible combination, have be-
come partners in all our higher in
situations of learning. LOOK at the
prominent people in our colleges to-
day and you will find that by far
the greater number of the men and
many Of the women are partly or
wholly self-supporting
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