Sweet Briar College - Briar Patch Yearbook (Sweet Briar, VA)

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BRIAK PATCH JUNIOR — Then it must be the opposite, must it not? SENIOR Yes, Junior. JUNIOR — And we all admit that the opposite of good is evil. Therefore, your education was not good, but evil, m this case. Furthermore, you say that your athletic training produces a sound mind. You remember, do you not, that in a certain public debate you and I had, you were defeated and your reasoning was proved unsound? This seems to prove that your m ind, as well as your body, has failed to profit by this education which you advocate. SENIOR — es. Junior, I must admit it. JUNIOR — Moreover, when you gave your play, you showed, by charging an outrageous price, that you had no regard for humanity. And when we endeavored to lead you into more virtuous paths by posting a sign that, after all, you had relented and would only charge thirty-five instead of fifty cents, you took it as an insult. Verily, this shows beyond question that you have no morals. No, SENIOR, in educating the Freshman, I shall certainly not follow your example. SOPHOMORE — Junior, I have profited by the mistake of our Senior and I think I can give you a definition of education. JUNIOR — Well, Sophomore, let us hear it. SOPHOMORE — Education is the ability to pass examinations. JUNIOR — But would you call a person truly educated who always passed examinations with a G? You must remember that one can pass examinations well, or one can barely pass. SOPHOMORE — You are right. Junior, so I modify my definition by saying thai education is the ability to pass examinations well. JUNIOR — But, my dear SoPHOMORE, I see that you are not going to reach any profitable conclusion if you follow this line of thought. Do you not think that there could be education without examinations? SOPHOMORE— Yes, Junior. JUNIOR — Then your definition is inadequate? 27

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ERIAE FATCn Junior Class History PERSONS SENIOR SOPHOMORE JUNIOR FRESHMAN SENIOR — Now, Junior, that you have the Freshman in your charge, what do you propose to do with her? Do you intend to educate her? JUNIOR — That, my dear SENIOR, is just the subject I wish to discuss with you. Of course, she must be educated : but the question arises as to how she be educated. Indeed, I thought that you, being older than I, might be able to enHghten me as to what education really is. SENIOR — That is easily answered. There is physical or athletic education, mental education, and spiritual education. These are all, you understand, very important. JUNIOR — But I have asked for the definition of education, and behold! you have presented me with a swarm of educations. Your statement is. indeed, like a swarm of bees, for when one searches industriously for the value of it, she finds that in the end she is only stung, without having attained her purpose. But let us grant, for the sake of argument, that your definition is adequate. Which kind of education, then, would you advocate for the Freshman? SENIOR — Well, indeed, I should advocate, without hesitation, physical or athletic training. That is the course I have followed in my own case, and you can observe what it has done for me. It has developed the body, wonderfully indeed. I think I am quite the best athlete in college. Moreover, such training is good for the mind. You know, JUNIOR, it is impossible to have a perfectly sound mind without a sound body. JUNIOR — But, my dear SENIOR, you seem to forget that all this athletic training ol which you boast failed to prevent your caps and gowns from disappearing. The fact that your education failed to do this is not good, is it? SENIOR — Certainly not, JUNIOR. 26

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BRIAR FATCn SOPHOMORE — Yes, clearly. However, upon reflection, I believe that the proper education, the education which I have followed, leads to what is called the ability to discriminate. JL ' NIOR — Ah, you think that education consists chiefly in the power of discriminating between the virtuous and the evil, the profitable and the unprofitable, between the possible and the impossible? SOPHOMORE— That is what I think, JUNIOR. JUNIOR — Then I tee! it my duty to tell you that you have not succeeded in the case of your own education, for you are clearly unable to discriminate between the possible and the impossible. ou remember, perhaps, on the day of the SENIOR play you locked me in a room, thinking that it was possible to keep me there? However, I succeeded in removing the hinges from the door and in liberating myself, thus proving that it was impossible for you to keep me. SOPHOMORE — Oh, Junior, I thought I knew a great deal about education, but when I talk to you I seem to have no ideas at all. I have often discoursed at length on the subject to others, but in your presence my thoughts leave me. JUNIOR — In truth, SoPHOMORK, you have proved yourself worthy of your name, for while you deemed yourself wise, you have shown that you are in reality a fool — a wise fool. FRESHMAN — Now, Junior, that you have convinced Senior and SopHOMORi. that they are mistaken, perhaps you can give me some ideas of your own? JUNIOR — Well, Freshman, I am afraid that in being an humble seeker after truth and wisdom, and in showing SENIOR and SoPHOMORK their mistakes, I have only made myself enemies without becoming any wiser. However, I will tell you a few little incidents of my life which may be profitable. You remember when Senior lost her cap and gown I appeared at the play that evening in the disguise of a Senior, wearing a red bath robe and a pasteboard cap. Do you not think it took courage to appear in such garb? ALL — ' es, certainly, JuNIOR. JUNIOR — And did it not require courage to rise between the acts and sing those little songs of my own composition ?