Ann Arbor High School - Omega Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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consider their narrowness, we are amazed at the vast proportions which it immediately assumes. Out of all the millions of people inhabiting this world, it would be almost impossible to find two who are exactly alike. They may possess- very many of the same qualities, but the general effect will not be the same. But the possession of a few common characteristics will enable us to divide them into these general classes. I . ' Every true worker begins his struggle by seeking to gain some point- high 'above himself. Then when he has reached this point, he does not pause to look upon his task complete, but immediately collects all his forces for the attainment of another goal yet higher and more difiicult. ' Nowhere will we be able to find a man who respects anything beneath himself, either mentallyor-morally. Every- one looks towards something better and nobler as his ideal. ' Theiright to choose his own line of work is not given toevery man, and by far the greater part of those who have the privilege lack the power' to decide in best manner. As a natural consequence, success is not always their reward. One of themost surprising things we find is the number of men who have, apparently, missed their calling. We are often led to conclude that they never had any in particular. They noticed the evident ease with which others performed the duties of a certain work, and, invited by the growing prospects decided to try it for themselves. Very soon the duties of such a life become irksome, and the man begins to cast about for some- thing better suited to his genius. Then, instead of making himself a master in a single profession, he becomes a Jack of all trades and master of none. lVe have sometimes been told that it is well .to be a Jack of all tradesw if we can still be master of one, but we all, blindly are governed by surrounding circumstances. n . y The threads our hands in blindness spin No self-determined plan weaves in. The shuttle of the unseen powers E Works out a pattern not as ours. Through wish, resolve, and act, our will Is moved by unseen- igmrces still, 1

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. CLASS ESSAY. UPVVARD CLIMBING, BROADER GROWING. 'P XVINIFRED ORR Look about us Where We Will, nowhere will We iind a more interesting problem or one which will afford an opportunity for deeper study than human nature. It is almost the only existing subject which is Within the reach of every one. Small indeed, is the number of people who can live so secluded that they will not learn something about it. e Of those Who attempt to fathom it, the more they study, the more perplexed they become, and finally arrive at the conclusion that human beings were predestined to be incomprehensible to human minds. A IVhen We take a brief survey of those around us, we are able to find almost all kinds I of people. There are generous people, people who 'keep pace with the times, and do everything in their power to help advance the interests of the World, and people Who, by constant lagging, miss the one grand opportunity of their lives because of their lack of preparation. They have Waited so long for something to turn up that they do not know their chance when it does come. A There are many Who, led by an overweening pride and desire for power, Will hesitate at nothing which will force events to yield to their will and further their ambitious designs. In direct contrast to these are those fine- 'souled beings Who seem to impart a peculiar music to the tones which touch their lives. But by far the largest class, and one Which, perhaps, -overlaps and includes some from all the others, is made up of those narrow people Who seem to have but a single aim in life: yet when We pause to 15

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And no man measures in advance His strength with untried circumstance. Where would now be our great authors and sculptors if they all had been discoura.ged by the contempt which met their early efforts? ' Each one was forced to overcome some great difliculty, but, by the constant ap- plication of his best energies, each was enabled to accomplish his workg while others, who possessed talents which might have secured for them the prize without such an effort, were never known to fame. Few men have ever gained any.,-greatidegree of success by the use of numerous talents, There is our English friend Charles Dickens, who, though he gained some reputation fas a historian and -poet, early learned that his chief power, as aniauthor, layiin the fieldlof fiction, and therefore devoted himself to that. A - Somewhere we are told that the greatest understanding is narrow, but we can try to broaden our own as much as possible, and for this, as for all human develomement, time is necessary. Even. the development of sin in the world depended on this principle, for it required time for the serpent to coax Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, and after that Eve was obliged to use more time in order to convince Adam that he must eat of it also. Let us not, then, be content with our lives as they are at present 5 but set for ourselves some standard of excellence high above us. Then let our efforts for the attainment of our object be unceasing, so that we may serve as lights to others whose paths are darker. than our own. Let us then be u and doing With a heart for any fate, Still achieving, still pursuing. Learn to labor, and to wait. .17