Rome Free Academy - De O Wain Sta Yearbook (Rome, NY)

Page 13 text:

THE SENIOR ANNUAL. 9 had two rheumatic arms as old age came on, and so much did he dislike to call upon any one to aid him that he effected a contrivance whereby he could pull on his overcoat unaided. Too great reliance upon the assistance of others would, he thought, not only lessen the intensity of his energy but enfeeble the force of his originality. Professor Freeman, the great historian, caught up little John Richard Green and swung him upon his back fora ride because he found that he knew so much of architecture. The boy had saved his pennies to bribe sextons to admit him to famous churches and en- gaged there to rub brasses, all for the chance to study the beautiful edifices. The boy, who in that spirit, will help himself is sure to swing upon the sup- porting back of some good providence. If Benjamin Franklin could have done so much without college, or Shakes- peare, how much more with? The self- made is the one help spirit is strong though advantages Riches often stand in the poverty. Early de- man whose self- are few. way more, than privations have ample compensations and save us from many a servile lean- ing upon authority. Stevenson speaks of going to the head of his class by some lucky guess, where his boy mates kept him for a time by liberal prompt- ing, until even he wearied of the fierce light that beat upon those upper benches. They then ceased their prompting, when he slid rapidly to the foot, where he belonged. The intel- lectual stalwart, however deprived, is ever rising by force of his own potency of spirit to his proper level, and the in- tellectually unthirsting, though affluent of opportunity, can not be artificially held up, but at last sinks to the lower | ajar. | entered | life of the University. level of his nature. Success of any kind is an outcome of some form of self- help. During the academic year now clos- ing Arthur W. Soper has died, and lies buried almost within reach of the old academy bell, could it still be rung. He was not a graduate, though a member of the academy back in those years | . : when Professor Moore was principal. Though his school days were limited, they were marked by that energy of pursuit choracteristic of his entire life. To him life was an open door always Sixty-three years of activity From the time he office until those crowning metropolitan success, as door after door opened, he The line of endeavor he chose he followed and then the close. swept his father's years of a glowingly, resolutely. | so persistently that his success was bountifully assured. One Phase of College Life. What is College Life? Can any one | define it, giving its true signification? It is far from the ordinary life. It stands in a sphere of its own, alluring, hopeful, full of promise and youth, It is not the It is found only in the smaller colleges. The purpose of this essay is to touch on but one side of this spirited life of four years in a small college. We will treat of the close association of professors with stu- | dents and the students with each other. Some one has said: ‘‘It matters not what your studies are, it all lies in who your teacher is.’’ The best teacher is the one who comes nearest the students. Whether this is accomplished in ex- | pounding the mysteries of the Greek verb or standing over the student in the chemical laboratory, if the instructor

Page 12 text:

8 THE SENIOR ANNUAL. may enter, while he who is careless, let him be so still. In this respect it is that the spirit of modern life accords with the old-time ‘Behold | before thee open door. ”’ word, set an Life’s chances multiply and freedom to decline them grows. A hundred and one compulsions fall away. We will suppose you are an academe graduating today and away to college on the morrow. What is the position £ of the now-a-day college but that of an open door? A college used to be a compulsory institution and was prone to open the door of opportunity for culture and thrust the student through. In the earlier day he was forced to come daily to chapel and say his prayers; now the opportunity is simply pre sented, the privilege of worship and religious exercise stand, not as a part of college discipline, but as a supreme opportunity. ‘‘ Whosoever will” is a motto of the What, in fact, is the elective system— religious university. a classification of study according to individual taste—but a multiplying of doors? A great university shows its greatness in no way more than by its multiplication of doors, that the young student may choose for himself a way into some field of intellectual endeavor. And then when those doors are thrown open and the boy makes his response, the university does not compel the allegiance of the indifferent. Like the great- God above, the great school simply points to its door of oppor- tunity. calmly waits for the student’s choice, and quietly says, “ He that is lazy, let him be lazy still.” It may be that this academe goes not to the university but out into the world of business activity. Herein the sphere of human industry, what does the in- | of his interest, athletics. telligent citizen ask of the state, what does. the most advanced statesman seek but an The socialist asks more,— to guarantee to all citizens, open door ? for the dead level of assured comfort, that the state shall fix all the details of individual industrial success. Socialism says that the lazy shall not be lazy still, that and does not, shall drink of the industrial But wisdom tells us that the land is best governed when whosoever wants, whosover waters freely. the door of opportunity stands wide open, equally helpful to highest and The state, like the great university, will say, lowest—a door no man cut shut. “ He that is lazy shall have the free- dom to be lazy still. ” Now character as a force, or its lack is shown by those who stand by these If one loiters there or doorways of life. the through with avidity, we have a sign, the of The self-made man is the man capable of self-help, unchecked and by affluence of opportu- nity or poverty in the same. He it is who goes through the door he chooses. No great university can in itself make a scholar, neither can the man deprived in air of indecision presses one way or other, worthy note. unfeebled of early advantage fail of scholarship in the end if he thirsts. Professor James speaks of the boy who wasa dullard in his class, apparently, yet was a walking encyclopedia of sporting He was the most brilliant scholar in his class in the line facts and figures. Other doors of the university than this swung open to him in vain; he would not pass through. Others need not only a deepening interest but a stouter reli- ance upon the principle of self-help. Ericsson, the inventor of the Monitor,

Page 14 text:

10 THE SENIOR ANNUAL. wins the respect and friendship of his charge, his duty is performed, and the verb or the chemicals can assume their secondary places. On the rolls of our large institutions of learning are found the names of men, world famed for their learning. Into their lecture rooms come each year hun- dreds of men, mostly Seniors of the Universities. Doctors by Do these Professors and their actual contact and influence ever attempt to mould the characters of the students under them? Does not the teacher in the small college by his close intimacy enrich the lives of every man under hischarge? Does not his character enter that of the students giving them an ideal for emulation and effort ? A small college recently suffered the loss of one of their most popular and best beloved professors. The student publication voiced the feelings of every man in that college when it said: ‘‘So implicitly did all of us trust him, so accustomed were we to turn to him as our ideal and our example that to lose him seems little less than to have lost a father, who pointed us constantly and steadfastly to the purest and noblest ideals of living, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual.’’ Let us now turn to that many-sided organization of mysteries, the student body of a college. In the large Univer- sity, the student body can hardly be called an organization Their numbers lack unity and concentrated purpose. They are simply scattered bands of stu- dents attending classes on the University campus. We often hear how hundreds of University students attend athletic games to cheer on their teams. What proportion of the student body do they represent? Sometimes a half and very rarely two-thirds. Recently from a col- lege numbering less than two hundred nearly two-thirds of the students jour- neyed over a hundred miles to cheer on their foot ball team in a game which they all felt meant sure defeat. In addition to these things the bonds of friendship are firmer in the small in- | on thecampus with a Freshman. stitution. In a small college, class dis- tinctions, the bane and blot of many a fine University, are notso sharply drawn. In the small college a Senior never deems it beneath his dignity to be seen There | the Freshman counts as a man and is | classmen. not looked down upon by the upper- There the underclassman is received for his full worth and judged | for his merit and character, not for his | ability to pull an oar or twirla base ball. | There the Freshmen from the opening | days of college are advised, assisted and | from every fellow he meets. encouraged by the Seniors, experienced in the puzzling problems of a college course. There a man walks across the | campus, greeted by a hearty ‘‘Hello’’ There it is, if anywhere, one feels the true signifi- | cation of Cicero’s words, ‘In true friend- ship, we find nothing false or insin- cere; everything is straightforward and springs from the heart.’’ DoW. Wi; B. HH. S.,-700. Familiar Quotations. He had never fed of the dainties bred in a book.—Fr—nk—yn Et-rid-e. What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine.—Gldy-— Sh-f- -et. Too much of a good thing.—N-ll-e Br-wn. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness | thrust upon them.—J-hn Th—m-s Jo--s. For courage mounted with occasion.— L-sl-e M-r-y.