Evening star., 1927-10-02

capacity for dealing with baffling
situation, for estimating the develop
ment of auditory or visual memory
and for proficiency in completing
task. These tests are given in many
schools and colleges. OF themselves
! they do not tell whether a boy should
be a teacher of arithmetic or a
plumber, but, taken together with the
PERSONS likes and dislikes and with
his progress in learning the various
tasks, they do serve as an index for
vocational selection. and may often
help a hoy or girl to determine
whether he should he an interior
decorator or an expert accountant
with a somewhat greater degree OF ac-
curacy than by leaving 1t merely to
the individuals desire.
We also know that certain indi-
viduals. can assume only a small
amount OF real responsibility: there
fore. II one OF these individuals, be.
cause of his faithlessness, In promoted
from the tellerS cage of a bank to a
position Of much greater responsible
ity, he will probably fail. unless the
transition be made very gradually.
am thinking Of young man who
illustrated this point. Even as a child
he had great love for mechanics; he
was always reconstructing his me-
chanical toys, tinkering with his
fathers automobile and building radio
SETS But his mother felt that me-
chanical Things were very dull and
that mocha nical positions were not az
dignified as others. Therefore he was
urged to take a business training lead
ing to a position as certified public
accountant. He did badly in the
course, hut his teacher permitted him
to go on and his mother insisted on
his getting a position in this work.
On the job he was inattentive,
showed no initiative and was unhap
He lost one position after the other.
Finally wise family physician, who
understa nds something about men and
their abilities, urged the boy to take
a job a $ brakeman on a railroad. The
mother was Mortified at this, but the
wise family doctor insisted upon 1t
and very soon the boy was happy in
his work. Later he took night
courses and became an engineer. Re
Gently he has made an invention
which is Of the greatest importa nee to
the railroads.
One great reason for failure In the
first job is that in almost the ma iority
Of cases it il not chosen but just fallen
into. Many thousands Of boys and
girls finish their education without
forming the faintest idea what they
want to take up as life work. This
is even true of more than half our
college graduates.
y %k
IN the last few years much has been
done. both in high school and col
lege, toward voca tional guidance.
Those directing such work through
their knowledge of the result of psy-
Geological tests and their understand
ing Of personality have helped many
A boy and girl to start in a job for
which they had a real interest
In spite Of this directed effort to
place people in suitable jobs there are
stin far too many young people who
take the first opportunity that pre-
sents itself which offers a degree of
economic security. continue along in
these careers whether they are happy
in them or not, because they never
have the courage to venture for even
a, brief time away from economic Sc
curity into the security of making
good in a new type Of work
This is a great mistake. If you will
study the lives OF our great men today
you will find that a large proportion
Of them have made their successes in
some line other than the one in which
they began. They are the men who
had the courage and the initiative to
take their lives in their hands and
execute an about-face when they
found themselves going in the wrong
direction, even il it took their last
dollar to do so.
Courage and initiative are those
qualities of personality learned by
boys and girls in the classroom, on the
playfield and in the home. They
come from being trained and from
schooling ones self to accept defeat
on the ballfield and yet face the next
game with the will to conquer and the
belief it can be done 1t is taught by
the example and attitude of parents
and teachers and learned by reasoning