Manchester High School - Somanhis Yearbook (Manchester, CT)

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24 SOMANHIS EVENTS portant cities in the United States. Here youths may confer with the well- educated vocational leaders, and determine, to a certain extent, what the future will mean to them. The three aims of the Vocational Bureau at Harvard University should be followed by every community. They are as follows :— 1. To Keep the Child in School Longer; 2. Tostimulate Thought for the Future ; 3. To Assist Him in Choosing a Career. Consequently the vocational guidance of youth is one of the most im- portant kinds of work that can be undertaken by any community. The wel- iare of the community in years to come will be affected by the choice of oc- cupations for the young men who are at present growing up. hen society comes to recognize this important truth to a greater extent, it will be con- sidered almost criminal to allow a youth of promise to stumble into a yoca- tion without receiving assistance from those prepared to give advice. It is rarely possible for a boy to decide at an early age wh at line it will be best for him to follow. He must, therefore, make his training so broad that it will be of service to him in any kind of work, Certain fundamentals in education are needed by everyone; these should therefore be the branches that are given most study during the years of indecision. Even when one is quite certain what profession he will adopt, he should not con- fine himself to the study of it too early, for, if he does, he will be apt to be- come narrow in his outlook on life, and lack the proper sympathy for the work of others. One of the greatest necessities of life is a high school education. One should not, however, stop at this point, but should, if possible, go on, All cannot be blessed with a college education, but even so we can enter night school or take up a correspondence course. The secret of human success is the ability to keep pounding, Grasp every opportunity that comes your way, in order to learn something beneficial. When Senator Henry I’. Ashurst was a barefoot boy of ten, he wrote his name on one of his schoolbooks, and added to it the descriptive phrase, “United States Senator from Arizona.” Soon aiter he passed his thirty-sey- enth year his mail was being addressed: “Honorable Henry F. Ashurst, United States Senate, Washington, D. C.” It took him just twenty-sev- en years to do what he, as a child, had made up his mind to do, He was poor but this made no difference. Men like Thomas [dison and Henry Ford have done the very same thing. In looking over the various paths open to him, the young man should, before making his decision, consider the big things that really count. He and his work will be companions during his entire life; he should therefore make sure that it is the kind of companion that will be entirely agreeable. The work must have such a fascination for the young man that it will demand his best effort, and, at the same time, instill in him a love for the work, combined with the desire to do it better than it has ever been done before. If he does not have these essentials, he will never succeed, be- cause success is always secondary, and comes unsolicited as the result of doing the thing we love to do and to which we have given our heart and soul, The choosing of a vocation is no child’s play; it should be done with all earnestness, and be given serious thought. It is one of the few very important decisions that a young man has to make, since his entire life is usually affected by the choice. If he decides to follow a line of work which is distasteful to him, work in which he has no vital interest, he cannot possibly succeed; if, on the contrary he makes the right choice, his days will be spent doing the one big

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SOMANHIS EVENTS 23 to Inevitable Fate, but before so doing it might be wise to wake up and appreciate the advantages in the conditions which do exist. Lack of either money or influence cannot stop a young person with determination. The despised small town may be the very place in which to begin a career, its competition being approximately limited. You are never obliged to sur- render yourself to fate. for your fate can be what you choose to make it. Kemember that you are alive and in America, the Land of Opportunity. The ability to see and appreciate the good in everyone and in every condition is a mark of real intellectual superiority and broadmindedness, it is something that education alone cannot give, but which we must have in order to win the love, respect, and admiration of our fellow men. Dorothy Hanson '22, CHOOSING A VOCATION How shall I live? How shall T make the most of my life and spend it to the best advantage? How shall I become a man and do a man’s work? This, and not polities, trade or war, is the question which is facing the young man of the present day. One of the saddest things in the world is the sight of a young 1inan drifting aimlessly through life with no definite occuption, hoping that some day he may stumble into an easy job that will solve the question of mak- ing a living, Many persons get work by chance and continue doing the same ihing, until chance again turns them in a different direction. Each one of these is in no sense master of himself or of his destiny, but drifts about like a cork tossed from wave to wave on the high seas. Man was placed on the earth to subdue it, and he should have sufficient force of character to determine what part he will play in the world’s work. He who does not act for himself and develop initiative of his own, is no better than the beasts of the field. The “Jack of All Trades” who is so common in this world is usually the result of insufficient attention being given to the choice of a vocation. Here, as John D. Brewster truly states, “Vocational Guidance is Youth's Best Friend”, but it is only of late that the world at large has begun to realize this. When a young man ought to choose a career, he has usually had little experience and feels himself unable to make an intelligent choice, He has probably traveled but little, and his time has been spent doing only a few kinds of work. He very likely does not know much about the possibilities even of the work with which he 1s most familiar, He must stand looking into the future saying, “What shall 1 do?” His ideas regarding various kinds of work are distorted. He fails to understand true values, and thus he pictures to himself the bank clerk with a white collar and clean hands. The disadvantages of this type of work are entirely overlooked, It is, therefore, very important that young people should be guided and given help in their choice of a vocation. To Mr. Frank Parsons of the Vocation Bureau of the Civil Service Home of Boston is due the credit for introducing the methods of Vocation- al Guidance which have proved so valuable to other workers of the move- ment. The Y, M. C. A. and Y, W. C. A. organizations, together with cer- tain libraries and schools have instituted vocational bureaus in many im-

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SOMANHIS EVENTS bo wt job which calls for his imagination, his loyalty, his sacrifice, and—in the dark- er hours—for all his faith. his in itself is a reward. Thomas Edison once said, “I keep on making inventions for two purposes: . To support myself and family; . To get money to make more inventions.” And when it is all over, a man may say, “I have made a success of life; my family has never wanted for a dollar and I can now leave them all comfortable.” But is he a real man? A person's chief interest should be in his fel- lowmen. It should be his greatest pleasure to do them service. When a man becomes truly interested in his life work, when he loses himself in any big cause, he finds his reward in the work, and, what is more, he finds himself a bigger man as the result of it. 1 2 Young men in planning their careers are sometimes so short sighted that they consider nothing but their own welfare. More experience would teach them that such a course is folly. The fundamental question there- fore is not “what can I get out of this work,” but rather “what can 1 put in- te ite When Andrew Carnegie was very young he had a vague dream of be- coming a steel magnate and of revolutionizing that industry. This was what he set out to accomplish. He had no money but he possessed two great assets in life—Itnergy and Faithfulness. During his early life we find him doing all sorts of menial work but doing it well. Finally the reward—not sought, but earned, came. Ina few years from this period he was the lead- ing steel magnate; what he had set out to do he had accomplished. Carnegie loved the thing he gave his life to because it was a man-sized job, and be- cause it called him, and having found it, he got his reward. Thus aman who has been successful in his life work will be developed physically, mentally, and spiritually, and the world will be better for his having lived in it. Stanley Clulow ‘22. THE FACE AND WHAT IT EXPRESSES It is a sad and gloomy day when we are obliged to elbow and jostle our way in the midst of a crowded thoroughfare, but there are a few humorous sidewalk observations which make amends for our trouble. Left-over remainders of expressions meant for someone else, hash, as it were, are especially humorous. Two men are approaching, exercising the muscles of their faces with much vigor. One might imagine they were discussing the last reports of the World Series with virulence more suita- ble for a bull-fight. As they brush by, the more wrathful of the two glances at you with a ferocious scowl which gives you the chilling sensation of a snowball aimed with such nicety as to lodge in the back of your neck. Perhaps you have also experienced that mixed expression that Con- vention seems to demand from un-introduced individuals. The passer-by in living up to mercenary [tiquette, succeeds in inspiring a steely glint in his eyes, while his unruly lips turn traitor and continue grinning at his companion. This has the effect of a dish of luscious strawberries and cream which you may gaze at but not touch. On the street we may meet an acquaintance with whom we wish to talk on business matters. Since we are not very well acquainted and our con- versation is wholly business-like, we are coolly polite to each other. A