Manchester High School - Somanhis Yearbook (Manchester, CT)

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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

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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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26 SOMANHIS EVENTS man, an intimate friend of our conversant, may pass, however, and we sur- prise a bewitching smile on her face as she greets him over our shoulder. Then her face immediately becomes a model of conventional sobriety as she continues her conversation with us. Dr. Holmes W. Merton, the vocational analyst, has a theory about character study. He claims that there is a decided relations hip between the mental faculties and the regions of the face. His ability to analyze has been called intuition, but he himself says he has attained it through hours of hard study. He has done much analysis by means of photographs. For instance, he once took the pictures of fifty lawyers and studied them very carefully, There was not much resemblance in the faces at the first glance but a closer view showed a similarity in the size and contour of the features which in- dicate mental qualities necessary for this profession. Each one resembled the others in some minute detail as Dr. Merton’s study showed. This serves only to prove that our occupation and inner thoughts determine the lines and expressions of our faces. It is an established belief that a protruding upper lip shows extravagance and that high cheek bones denote caution. Nature decreed that the Indian should be a cautious but fearless warrior so she endowed him with prom- inent high cheek bones as our study of him has taught us. Although the Indian warrior is almost extinct, the high cheek bones are manifested in motormen who have been in that profession very long. Of course this must not be taken too literally, nor does one who becomes a motorman suddenly develop high cheek bones, but it is true that one who lacks high cheek bones seldom is successful in this profession. He lacks the caution necessary for the position. Have you ever studied the pictures of prominent baseball players and noticed their chins? They have, as a rule, broad, long chins. This indicates their knack of handling themselves in motion, their quick co-ordination of brains and muscles, and their ready apprehension. Their muscles are train- ed to respond instantly to their slightest thought. The broad, long chin also shows an ability to foresee what size curve will be described by the ball in motion, even before the ball leaves the hand. If thes e baseball play- ers care to be automobile drivers, they will surely make a success of it, because of this ability to think quickly: or they might become expert loco- motive engineers for the same reason. But the difference in feature is often due to heredity as well as to en- vironment. The type of human nose of persons living in warm climates is low and flat, with large, short passageways directly to the lungs, Such people have little need of great energy for their climate does not demand it. Therefore we may say, that a person having a low, flat nose is indolent. Persons living in a cold , dry climate, on the other hand, have noses that are high in the bridge, with thin nostrils, so that the air may be both warm- ed and moistened before reaching the lungs. Thus a large nose, high in the bridge is, an indication of energy and aggressiveness, for a cold climate demands energetic people. Character analysts have told us, however, that the face must be stu- died as a whole for any success. For example, a man may have a protrud- ing chin) which taken alone, means aggressiveness; but he may also have kind eyes which show his amiability. This may make him thought- ful of others, and, as he is unwilling to hurt his own popularity, he uncon- sciously does away with his aggressiveness. A man with a large nose which curves outward from his face may be said to have much native shrewdness, if this feature alone is taken into con- sideration. If this man also had zeal and a good education, he might become