Woman's enterprise., 1922-05-05

N'o S''"' NSPe iiS 4lOIl HAe1hA
friends of my own age, l had a
ways been hungry reader of ever
book, good and bad that came with
my reach. 1t was out of this co,
slant association with books thu
there grew upon me the desire
|write.
| But this desire was a timid thing
like wishing for the moon-and wa
unaccompanied by even the faintes
hope of attainment. The bar
thought was preposterous. To m
mind authors belonged to an entirel
different world from ordinary NOR
tals-a world that could be enteret
only by the elect; and | trembled a
my audacity in wishing to become on,
| Of them.
Nevertheless, l had tried severa
times to write stories. My first at
tempt, at eight or nine years, was tt
produce a book on the order of the
cheap "Boy Scouts Series. In al
seriousness bought new tablet and
pencil, and impressed by the magni.
tude Of my undertaking, seated my.
self to write. But these preliminar.
les were as far as my book ever pro-
gressed, for even the new pencil and
tablet failed to furnish me with a
single inspiration. Later secret ses-
slons with pencil and paper resulted
in various bescribbled manuscripts
which | worked over when alone, and
which l hastily secreted, at the first
sound of footsteps, in old catalogues
in the bottom of my trunk. After
wards, revisiting my hiding place,
would eagerly reread what l had
wrltten-a process that always re-
suited in dreary disillusionment and
the ruthless destruction of once
cherished manuscripts.
My ideas concerning other profess
sions than writing were vague and
indefinite. When friends inquired Of
me what profession intended to fol-
low, | was forced to evade their ques-
tions. Again and again I put off my
decision, consoling myself with the
thought that, as time went on, I, like
Sentimental Tommy" might also
"fnd a way"
But | had not yet made a choice
when it actually became necessary for
me to select my course of study here
at the University. I still chung to
writing as the only career which held
any attractions for me. l had had no
trouble in deciding what wanted to
do; the question to decide now was
what was best for me to do. Under
the strain of constant urging on the
part of my family, l had consented to
take up sugar chemistry, when, about
two weeks before the opening Of
school, we received a visit from an in
structor at the University who in her
stay convinced my folks
that journalism was the only course
for me. It was as if she had read nv
mind.
So now l haze chosen journalism as
my profession. admit to a fear of
eventually becoming stranded on some
country newspaper. Still, that would
be preferable to being stranded on a
tropic isle without work, and should
probably be if l had attempted the
sugar course.
My greatest desire, though it be
ever so hopeless, is to become a writer
Of good short-stories. l should also
like to write few novels. Extrava-
CANT? Yes, but while we're building
our castles in the air we may as we'll
build them tall and glittering, even
though we may never climb above the
lowest steps of the difficult stairway
that leads to the wide halls of our
aspirations.
The pursuit of journalism has many
advantages, the greatest of which, in
my opinion, is that the journalist is
never in danger of falling into the
'ut of routine labor. With life in its
endless phases as his material, and
with the whole world to choose his
subject matter from, his profession
becomes for him a never-ending edu-
,ation and a means Of constant
growth and broadening. And if he
'eally has message for the world,
journalism automatically endows him
With the gift Of power and influence
" furnishing him a greater audience
han any other profession affords.
ITo ho nontinned nnyt issua