Rayen School - Rayen Yearbook (Youngstown, OH)

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mhz ikapzn Retnrh 433 I The Practical Student E HE practical student, let me say, is the one who accom- plishes the most in the least time. The practical student puts fifteen minutes a day into assigned Work and learns the rest in class, To do this, and at the same time avoid a long list of P's in daily work, requires' three things: concentration in class, a certain amount of luck, and considerable subterfuge. Concentration you' must learn yourself. Luck is one of the gifts of the gods. The purpose of this article is to lay before you some of the tricks of the trade called bluffing. q To start at the beginning, the first thing the practical student does is to get to work. It is absolutely necessary that the first three weeks of a semester be spent in hard work. The student should also gather, during the first week, all available information as to the disposition and habits of the new teacher. By the end of this week he should be in a position to plan the campaign of the coming semester. There are three distinct systems from which to choose. These are called, and well called, The Positive , the Crank , and the Negative systems. The object of the first is to pro- duce a good impression, and to live up to it without work. That of the second is to earn a reputation as a crank, and to escape recitations by means of it. That of the third is to make an exceedingly bad impression, and to get good marks be- cause of it. A About the best of the many roles belonging to the Posi- tive System is that of the bashfu1 boy . He blushes, and stammers when called upon, and makes a bad mess of his reci- tations. And then when the tests are given, having learned his lessons in class, he brings down some high marks. The teacher reasons that it wouldube unfair to lower his high test grade because of his poor recitations,-due, as she thinks, to his extreme shyness. There is one accomplishment the student' must master to make a go of the positive system. He must learn to blush. A good, genuine, full-fledged blush is a hard thing to produce at the right time. The blush must come spontaneously, or ati

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432 Ghz iiapen itennrn Rayen Heroes F gf OETS, for countless ages, have praised heroes. Com- 5 posers have dedicated rousing songs to heroes. Everywhere are beautiful monuments in memory of if A ME l1eroes. The pages of history are full of heroes. Even our own newspapers glare with vivid' accounts of heroic deeds and-heroes! , b I . . Ah, but there is an old prover w rich states that the world knows nothing of its greatest Every morning, regardless of heroes meet at Central Square, Magnificent Green Bussesf' sacrifices which take place in men. And oh, how true it is! rain or snow, the world's real and ride up to Rayen School in The heroic deeds and supreme these green busses, morning after morning, are beyond human description. 'The gentle reader would be moved to tears, and possibly wring- his hands in agony could he but only imagine these touching scenes. Verily, they could melt a heart of stone! g Yet how many persons in this wide world have ever heard of these perilous rides? Wie have all read of Paul Revere's famous ride: and my, how we marvelled at Kit Carson's thrill- ing escape from the yawning jaws of deathg and do you re- member how you were overcome with emotion at the Charge of the Light Brigade? But why, oh why, are these men he- roes??? They have accomplished their deeds only once, and thus achieved undying fame, while our own Rayen Knights ride the untamed green busses every' morning! Oh death, where is thy sting? America has been referred to as the Great Melting Potf' In that case the green busses maybe called the Green Boiling Pots . It is in these pots that class distinction is completely forgotten. Here Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Fresh- men all rub shoulders together, and cheerfully step over one another. lt is not an uncommon sight to see a Senior attempt- ing to retain his lordly dignity while a Freshman is perched upon his shoulders, a Junior's elbows are deeply pressed into those haughty ribs, and a Sophomore is firmly planted on his feet. Can anyone disprove that all four are heroes? And still no praise is forthcoming, and no monuments are being erected. Yes, it is true, the world knows nothing of its greatest men. , Red Gossoff, '23.

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434 ,Ghz Rupert Return , least it must seem to. Some authorities say it should be pro- duced by twisting the tongue into a roll as far back in the mouth as possiblef How it is produced does not matter, but it must be produced. The fellow who can blush, wields a pow- erful weapon. Try it on a girl. It will bring her down almost as quickly as her blush will bring you down. ' Then as to the second system. The crank comes into class with his tie tied upside down, and his shoe strings un- laced for the occasion. He takes a seat in the exact center of the room. The artistic crank looks neither to the right nor to the left. He glues his eyes on the ceiling, paying no atten- tion to the efforts of the other students to recite. But when the teacher begins to talk he becomes, in a literary sense, all ears. He asks for an explanation of some particularly fine point which has bothered him, as he says, although he prob- ably has never looked at the lesson before. And then when a new student comes to bat he again ..turns, in an infinitely bored way, to the ceiling. , A week of this rather exasperates the teacher. .Hence she tries to make an example of him. Net result: one brilliant recitation. Three or perhaps four times she tries this with the same outcome. And then slre lets him alone, and furthermore she begins to respond to the subtle flattery of his listening to her in preference to all others. Does it work? It does. As to the Negative System, mention of ways to get a bad reputation is wholly unnecessary. And, as a reward for his bad conduct, the subject is naturally given the hardest part of the lesson to explain -a situation in preparation for which his fifteen minutes have gone. Of course, a good recitation, de- livered in a most exasperating, off-hand manner, follows. Need I elaborate? , And then, no matter what system he chooses, the student must learn a good many energy plays. He must always have a little outside information to throw into the breach when he sees a question coming. He must be prepared to argue, and that sensibly, on any question, and at any time. A good argu- ment for the negative side will always ward off a question, and usually get a good mark. These, and at least two other plays, should be learned. - Of course, there are some don'ts,', in fact three. The