St Joseph Academy - Sajoscript Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

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S A N D A L P H 0 N Opportunity EMMA ALIBRANDO Third Ifhetofic CC l'POR'l'UNITY knocks at least once at every llltlll,S door, it is the deaf Ellltl the irresolute that it passes by, so reads a maxim that is frequently quoted. Opportunity! We ll1ill'V0l at the word. What is opportunity? Is it luck? Is it chance '? Ur, perhaps, is it just good fortune that descends 1113011 the person least aware ef its descent fl It cannot be luck, for luck brings to our mind something happy and unexpecteil. If we attain the mark we have proposed to ourselves, our friends exclaim, H What luck. Was it luck? Was the goal not reached as a result of strenuous and persevering effort fl The ready affirmative gives evident proof that luck does 11ot define opportunity, as luck does not involve work. Next comes chance. We k11OW when we speak of chance that it can be either favorable or unfavorable. It, too, is unforeseeng it springs upon us one instant, and is gone the next. No, it cannot be included in the definition for which we are searching, for an opportunity grasped is usually held. Clltflllfffi is a capri- cious, smiling divinity, worth propitiating, yet one not to be depended upon. Now comes good fortune seeking its eligibility in our definition. The term good fortune brings to our mind prosperity and success, which are usually purchased at great cost. Good fortune, however, savors of boldness and audacity, for 'tis said, Fortune loves not these who hesitate. She never turns toward those who refuse to dare. The ancients represented Fortune as a blind woman lightly turning a wheel with her foot. The sudden starting and pausing of the wheel was indicative of the role of chance. Therefore, fortune cannot have a part in our definition of opportunity, for opportunity does not appear sud- denly to disappear as suddenly, if the most is made of it. 'l'o a certain extent, there is an element of each of the foregoing in what we call opportunity, in as much as we must be always on sentry duty, we must be willing to run a risk, and we must be experienced enough to be surprised at nothing if we would lead opportunity captive and make it do for us what we so often hear it has done for others. 'l'hese, however, a1'e mere intimations of what opportunity really is. It is said, In proportion as the aid we receive from opportunity is uncertain and precarious, that which we obtain by our efforts is efficacious and lastingf' By our own efforts. Ilere is the solution of our search for a definition of opportunity Opportunity does not permit us to profit by its gifts unless we try to dese1've them. Successful people are invariably these who rely upon their efforts and not upon the intervention of chance. Opportunity rarely calls on those who neglect to provide her with a suitable welco111e. This is another reason why we must rely 011 our own efforts. Those who are determined to succeed are always meeting with opportunities. 'l'hc lives of many eminent men furnish excellent examples of preparation for opportunity. Long years of study and an intense interest in natural phenomena had taught Newton the value of accurate observation. Hence, the chance falling of an apple furnished a clue to the solution of a problem which until then had defied explanation. Scientists received with enthusiasm the re- sults of Newton 's investigation, a discovery which made Sir Isaac famous, and one which has been of vast utility to men. The early life of Charles Dickens was dark and stormy, and the outlook for the future bleak indeed. At sixteen, however, when an opportunity appeared on the horizon, Dickens lost no time in seizing it. From that hour his success page fifty

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Q SANDALPHON ing, I'm sure I cut my head! How it hurts! I'm getting cold a11d stiff, and I can 't reach my dear old Auntie! Aunt Martha ! What has happened? My fire is out. I must have been dreaming! I fell from my chair and struck my head on the fireplace! How real that dream was! and where is Aunt Martha l But the inventions we had! VVill the world really come to such things? I think if I should wake up again in a hundred years I should feel as AuI1t Martha did in my dream. The Cl1ild'ren's Dilce TIENY OFFENBERG Second Rhetoric N APPALLING stillness hung that still morning over the small village of Alblasserdam which is situated close to the first dike, a. few miles below Rotterdam. Here the rivers Maas and Ysel almost meet, which confluence threatens the surrounding country in times , of flood. Because of the frequent overfiow of these rivers, the land is very fertile. It yields an abundant quantity of gorgeous flowers, which their cultivators send each week to the tlower market in the Dutch metropolis. All day long the heat had been so intense that the villagers were tired and weary. Everyone knew that a. storm was approaching, yet business and work went on as usual. By way of forestalling trouble, a hurried examination of the dike had been made. Presently the wind began to blow so violently and the rain to fall in such torrents that both the Maas and the Ysel overflowed. The next half hour passed slowly, but still the force of the waters increased until finally the dike broke. The fields of fiowers, which less than an hour be- fore had been so unspeakably beautiful, were flooded and the surrounding country became a veritable lake. Houses were washed away or broken to pieces. People were clinging to the roofs of their homes. The strain was over- powering. Poor, helpless people! Thousands of lives were lost. Through the constant making of land by the sea a second dike was built to protect the new made land. The little town of Kempe lay close behind the second dike. The inhabitants of Kempe were all on the dike trying to rescue the people of Alblasserda.m. Men with sticks and other material were keeping the boards and parts of washed away homes from the dike, for these would do it great damage. After an hour of raging storm the rain ceased and the wind calmed down, nevertheless, the labor of the men went on unceasingly. At some distance the anxious survivors saw a cradle floating slowly down the stream. Someone noticed it, yet thought it was a box of no importance. After a moment of close observation, however, they discovered it to be a baby in a cradle, while a kitten seemed to he amusing the little one by jumping from one side of the cradle to the other. Closer and closer came the little white cradle with its precious burden. The kitty jumped to the left if the cradle tipped to the right, and to the right if it tipped to the left, thus keeping the cradle in perfect balance. NVhen a brave villager caught the cradle, kitty and all from the wall, he found a little six months' old baby laughing and crooning at the antics of the kitten, quite oblivious of the frightful danger from which it had been saved. Since then this dike has been known as the Children's Dike and a new town clesc by has received the same name. 'One can, today, find pleasant recreation in taking an hour's boat ride from Rotterdam, Holland's most important harbor, to the quaint old village. Children's Dike , where little has changed since the above incident happened during a great inundation in the seventeeth century. page forty-nine

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SANDALPHON was flSSlll'l'll, for ho profifvrl hy 'fhv many sfraitmiod ClI'0lllllSl2llllfl'S in whivh hc hail lm-ii plavocl, aml, as a rvsult, works of T110 givafvst litvrary valuv are at our ilispnsal and will prohahly livv forever. Ill i'm-Hvutiiigg' on xxllfilllillll Limfulii, om- of thv g'i'vat0st ligfiirvs in our liistury, wo must vmisimlvr Tho ilifferoiif 0IJpUI'lIllllll1'S for il0V0l0Plll0Ilf which hm- hacl flur- ing' his lwyliuml, fwmi each mul of which hv mlorivccl :ww iclvas aml frvsh l'llCl'gL'.V. ln spifo uf his 1-i1'm'l1111sc1'ili01l lifv, and limihinl cnlucatimi, his own ilvh-rniiiiatimi lu inalw smiivtliingg' out' of himsvlf led him tn mako the must of vvvry npporluliily ihat pwsi-iitvcl itsolf. As a rusult, tho Hgxlllilllillll l1lI1C0lI17l who Ulwlmigs fn thi- vmninmi pvoplv of 1-wry laml,', sfamls lwfmv us. Um' oppmtlliiifivs, fhvn, are worth exactly what wv mal-tc of tlim-in. 'l'hvy am- fwqiiviitly vvritahlv opvniiigs to tho sur-cvss which wv arm- sm-lciiigr. lim-T us, thou, lvnaoimisly grasp the gulilm-ii oppurflniify whivh our loving, S0lf-S?ll'l'llll'lIlgl', mlm-Vim-ml parm-ills hayv plan-ml within our l'02lCl1-fllilf of all vxcvllvnt llilllllllll' 1-rliivaiiim in this iclval Ilmllllllltlll of lK'Ell'IllIlj1'. Sfimulaferl anal t'l1i'lllll'ilQ'l'Kl hy tho high aspirafimis, nulmli- soiifiim-nts, aucl lofty priiiciplvs whim-h our lllllll'1'- l1lllllUllS. cli-vu'fwl tvavlim-rs have plam-fl, aull arm- placingr, liofmw- us, lvl us plwlgm- our loving, g1'I'2lit'l:lll fm-ally to our i'llK'I'lSllCll Alma Maier, until flu- clay whivh will ailmil us to ilu- l4l1'v1'i1al Ilmm- of our Divine Masfor, whvrc wm- shall i'm'civiw lhv rcwarml of our graspcml 01TlNlI'l'llI1lllQS. T1115 C11P:M1c,xi. LABURATURY page fifty-one