Technical High School - Tech Tiger Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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THE 1915 ORIOLE 23 is bright for greater prosperity in the future. We have the best coaches in football and baseball, and a fellow with athletic aspirations will find here all of the major sports. Now for a few observations on college life in general. Of course the first and foremost thing a man goes to college for is study and mental development in definite directions, therefore you should give the books and 'profs' conscientious attention and interest. It will be to your benefit and personal satis- faction if you do, and you will surely regret it if you don't. But the man makes a serious mistake, who goes to college with good scholarship as his only ambition. You must cultivate the acquaintance and friendship of your fellow students. College activities, too, should form a part of your curriculum. If you can sing a little, go out for the glee club, if you can shoot a basket occasionally, or make a bluff that you are a football player, make a try for the class teams, if you can't make the varsity. The point is this,-identify yourself with some of the activities outside of your studies. In this way you meet men, and broaden out more than you realize. A' In college the faculty allows you much more freedom than you are accustomed to in High School. Any time when you don't have a class scheduled during the day, you are free to go and come as you please. There is no 'prof' keeping tabs on you and it is up to you whether or not you improve your time or waste it. This is only an instance illustrating the general principle that what a man makes of himself in college depends entirely upon himself. It isn't up to your dad, or your High School, or the college faculty, it's up to you. fsignedl CLYDE M. PACKARD, T. H. S. '09. From Yale I answer your request with a genuine feeling that I cannot in such a brief space adequately represent Yale for the alumni. The Technical High School as well as the Central High School holds an enviable position in the esteem of Yale authorities. Not many men have come to Yale from 'Tech,' but those who have come have kept 'Tech's' record unspotted. Two years ago Professor Chittenden, director of Yale's Scientific School, wrote a letter of Commendation to Mr. Warner on the men he had sent to Yale. We certainly are proud of the men who came

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22 THE 1915 ORIOLE the other of the six Greek letter fraternities, but a man's stand- ing with the college is in no way iniiuenced by the fact that he is a 'frat' man or that he is not. Almost without exception men from 'Tech' who have en- tered Clark have done exceedingly well. The thorough train- ing afforded by the Springfield Technical High School is the best possible preparation for work here, and to 'Tech' men who may decide that Clark is the place for them to receive their college education I extend a most hearty welcome. lsignedl JOHN T. WARD, T. H. S. '09. From the Mass. Agricultural College lf any of you fellows have an idea that you might be in- terested in any branch of agriculture or the natural sciences, you can find no better place to pursue these subjects than the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Here one can specialize in agriculture, horticulture, iloriculture, fruit-growing, or in the natural sciences of entomology, bacteriology, Zoology, and botany. The instruction in all of these courses is excellent, because the professors are all experts in their lines, and that brings me to an important point:- It is this,-whatever line youfinally settle on, find out where you can get the very best courses in that profession and go there. If it costs more to go there than to some other places, Wait a little longer before you go, but get there. If there is no one direction in which your tastes seem to run, don't be in a hurry about choosing, but go ahead to any good college, if it is your good fortune to be able to, and take a general educational course. At the same time take a crack at the things you con- sider possibilities for a life occupation, choose the one you like best, and then do what the old motto up in the 'Tech' drawing room says, 'Get Busyf Outside of the courses at M. A. C. there is much to com- mend the college to your consideration. There is a good clean bunch of fellows up here and most of them are here for business rather than pleasure, which is not the case in some colleges. There is a spirit of democracy, which causes the best man to be recognized as the best, and gives every one a chance according to his qualifications. Athletics are prospering and the outlook

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24 THE 1913 ORIOLE from 'Tech,' and look to the graduating class to uphold the good record by sending a good bunch of men this year. At the time we entered Yale the entrance requirements were at variance with the usual studies pursued in the college preparatory course at 'Tech.' This year Yale has revisedzher requirements so that the high schools are placed on an equal footing with the big preparatory schools. The entire aim of the new system is to make the field of entrance subjects as broad as is consistent. A man is judged not by 'catchy' ex- aminations but by fair tests, for evidence of good general schol- arship and ability. While no certificates are accepted from any school, the results of the examinations may be weighed in con- nection with the candidate's school record, wherever this is submitted. This new regulation is especially devised to make access to Yale easier for those high school boys of exceptional ability who for any reason have not been able to follow exactly the courses of preparatory study prescribed. As a result of these changed entrance requirements we look to 'Tech' to send more and more men to profit from the exceptional opportunities offered at Yale for broad and scientific training. Yale, like every other college or university, has its own customs and traditions to which it clings most tenaciously. Yale is especially blessed with her customs, and we feel that they add a great deal to the charm of the college life there. We have our customs and traditionsg we have our social times and study periods. Outsiders think we are queer, but when you join the Yale ranks and catch the real Yale Spirit, all these oddities fall into line and become the natural course of events. If the men thinking of college will accept a few words of advice from a 'grad' who has neither a bald head nor gray hair, he will promise to be brief. Hundreds of men come to Yale with the social or athletic aim and find, when they just manage to pass, that after all their idea of college was fundamentally wrong. College is to prepare a man for his life work. Con- sequently scholarship is the shaft on which the wheel of college life really revolves. Each outgoing Senior Class at Yale votes on the question, 'What distinction did you most prize during the college course?' Each year the vote is overwhelmingly in favor of the Phi Beta Kappa key, the badge of scholarship. Next in order comes the making of the 'Y' on the major athletic teams, and third choice is the owl watch-charm which one gets