East Hartford High School - Janus Yearbook (East Hartford, CT)

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science and politics and exert their infiuence to secure the ad- vancement of good men. Almost every one has at some time such a vision. These millions of dreams differ only in minor details. Yet only a small portion of them come true. There is a long road which leads to them, and many drop out along the way. Some men set themselves goals which their natural abilities cannot help them to reach. Some content themselves with dreaming of what they should like to be and made no continuous effort to reach their marks. Others reach the business positions they desire but lose sight of the finer parts of their visions. The man who succeeds in becoming all he wishes to be must first estimate accurately his abilities and his preferences and build his vision upon them as the foundation. By the time he finishes high school he should have at least a general idea of what he is going to do with his future. His Work in high school has shown his capabilities. If he has not chosen a definite position to work up to, he at least knows of a group of occupa- tions which call for somewhat similar qualifications and duties. Of course he wants to rise as high as he can. His future is taking form. He now knows how much further preparation is necessary. As his understanding broadens, he listens more closely to other men's talk and observes more attentively the struggles to make good which are going on around him. At last he comes upon a possibility which makes him stop and think. He considers it and finds it within the range of his abilities. The more he examines it the better he likes it. He develops a real enthusiasm for it. He has seen his vision. He has something to guide him through the years of struggle, to narrow and strengthen his energies, to detach him from the ranks of aimless drifters and to make him a man with a purpose. Some men determine upon offices which require far more ability than they possess to administer successfully. That is where the first men leave the best road. They may discover this and try to be content with lower positions, or they may struggle on as long as they can toward their original goals. In either case they will suffer grief and disappointment. Some have after a fashion visions of what they would like to be, but they are doubtful of their ability to reach their goals. They do not see the end of the road as plainly as they should. They must make their way along slowly and uncertainly. The man who knows where he is headed and why has a great ad- vantage. He puts his whole energy into the attempt to reach the mark he has set, perseveres undiscouraged by the obstacles in the path, and arrives triumphantly at the end. But the man to whom the vision is less bright in the beginning sees it less plainly as the years go on and the difficulties multiply. Eventually he completely loses sight of it and is compelled to set a lower mark to aim at. The enthusiasm of the man who sees his goal plainly enables him to leap over barriers that would stop a man uncertain of his way. The man sure of his destination can make his choice of the ways to reach his goal, can map out each step of the route he selects. He is not 22

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VALEDICTORY THE LONG ROAD We are all idealists to some extent. Practically no one has so little vision that he can form no definite idea of what kind of man he should be thirty years hence. He knows per- fectly well what business or profession he should be in and what position he should be occupying among the men who have chosen the same vocation. Most of us go a step farther and picture what kind of boss we would make to the men under us, what kind of lieutenant we would make to the officers above us. Would we be hard bosses who drive their men to their ut- most by loud, harsh orders and the fear of heavy penalties, or would we be the sort who call their men by their first names, inquire about their families, direct them coolly, and accomplish results through their loyalty? Would we not respectfully acknowledge an order from a superior, perform the task effici- ently, and report it done before the time limit set for us? Some stop there, but many go on with the vision. When they reach the positions they have planned for, they will not forget the Lord who has aided them nor the poor who cannot rise to such high places because of their lack of opportunities. They will conduct their businesses fairly and live their private lives cleanly. They will give a certain portion of their in- comes to churches, hospitals, and schools. In another phase of their dream, they plan that if their businesses require indoor work they will not let their muscles grow soft. They will do their best to keep the glowing health which was the source of the energy that enabled them to rise to their chosen positions. They will take brisk walks every day, or they will join golf clubs. They will become members of the Y. M. C. A., or they will fit up private gymnasiums. They will go into the wilds for their vacation. They will take no servants. They will leave civilization's softening luxury be- hind. They will paddle their own canoes, they will fetch their own water, and they will hunt a part of their own food. They will enjoy nature, but they will not destroy it. They will kill enough ish and game to supply a portion of their food, but they will not bring back enough to provide all their friends with deer heads and mounted fish to hang over their fireplaces. They will broaden their minds to make themselves worthy of the society of the high-minded and intelligent people whom they find occupying similarly high positions. That is part of their vision. They will travel. They may go to Europe once to view the cultural background of the race and to get ac- quainted with contemporary great peoples. But their main purpose will be to see America. After they have seen all the natural beauties of this country, its pleasant farms, busy cit- ies, and sturdy people to appreciate and understand them, it wil be time for them to remain at home and sit in the sun. They will know enough about literature, art and music to un- derstand what artists America has produced, the characteris- tics of their work, and how they stand in relation to the rep- resentatives of other countries. They will keep abreast of 21 I 1

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forced to waste time in deciding what to do next, nor to repair damage caused by a Wrong decision. After each fresh dis- couragement the man who gropes his Way along must stop and ask himself if he did right to choose that route. But the man who sees his goal beckoning him on is perhaps prepared for that disaster, perhaps able to figure out its causes and effects. He stops only long enough to correct the fault and presses on toward the shining mark, which is now perceptibly nearer. Some men set themselves such goals which they hope to reach some day. Yet they do not map out ways to attain those marks. The man of this type wanders blindly along the road and does not know when he makes a wrong turning. He is content to let matters take their course in the hope that some day the position he wants will come to him. He uses his vision as a sort of patent medicine cabinet. In it he finds a cure for every fit of discouragement and a shield from every complaint and sneer. Whenever he feels dissatisfied with his present condition, he cheers himself with the thought that some day he will be in a position to command the respect of everyone. Whenever he is asked why he has not gained the position he expected to have, he answers, Just wait until my ship comes in. Some of these men realize that their youthful visions cannot be fulfilled, and they are to them only painful memories. Others continue all their lives to hope and plan fondly toward the same ends. Many attain the business positions they have desired and may feel self-satisfied and complacent, but they have not ful- filled their youthful visions. They have won success in their businesses, but in the struggle to gain that success they have somehow lost sight of the finer parts of the visions they once saw. In the effort to make themselves into successful mag- nates, they have forgotten to make themselves into proper men. Perhaps their good intentions have remained, but they have felt that in trying to reach high positions in their busi- nesses they have Worked too hard to do anything but rest in their leisure hours. Perhaps they have seen .ways to advance their material success that observed the letter of the law but would not have been considered by lovers of fair play. Their success in this and the faint reproaches of their consciences have led them to deride attempts to place ideals above wealth. But these men are not happy. Even if they have the homage of those persons whose respect for a man is in direct propor- tion to his money, they, themselves, know that they are not all they once planned to be. The man who succeeds in fulfilling his vision must never lose sight of his goal. For, to reach it, he must keep on the straight road toward it. To gain the position he wants he must choose the jobs that offer him a chance to learn about it. He must not be turned aside by attractive salaries. To acquire the polish necessary to associate with cultured people on equal terms, he must keep constantly abreast of the world's intellect- ual advance. He must neither depend on what he learned in school nor wait until he has reached the position he desires before learnlng what he wants to know about literature, sci- 23