Ursuline Academy - Yearbook (Cumberland, MD)

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We Build The Ladder By Which We RISE As we look over the history of mankind from the earliest period of civilization to the present, we find characters that have risen from positions of obscurity to others in which they have exerted a marked influence upon their associates, and upon the age in which they lived. There were no carefully constructed steps to assist them in climbing to these positions, but upon some foundation they began the construction of a ladder, adding to it round after round by patient toil, and rising step by step, till they reached a place where no others were able to stand. There are few people in the world who have not engaged in the branch of architecture called castle-building. These airy palaces contain the most pleasant abodes for the builder. We may have planned our way through life, but as time passes, with its inevitable ups and downs, what a different picture is presented to our view! We learn that we must build upon a surer foundation, for life, with its duties and difficulties, is a reality. We are sometimes inclined to think that the little incidents of common, every-day life, are of little consequence, and if we could only do something of some importance we would be happy, Great things are not done in a day. Twenty-four hours are far too short to do anything that will make one famous, but it is not too short to do something, and the many little things added together make the great one. The earth is composed of atoms, the century of moments, and our lives of little acts. If we expect to reach a higher posi- tion, such common tasks must be performed, and perhaps after these we will find our greater life-work. Life would hardly be worth living if our thoughts were for ourselves. All the beauty in nature was made for our enjoyment, so our actions should be for the good of those around us. The present alone is ours, and wasted opportunities are never presented to us again. Every one should have some work to do, and after selecting some object worthy of at- tainment, work for that alone. VVe must start at the lowest step, but if our chosen occupa- tion will bring us at last to a higher one, we need not be discouraged. Many of those who have gained the object of their labors worked years for it, as many years may have been spent by another of equal ability, who sought a number of prizes and gained none. A good education is almost indispensable as an aid to one who is struggling to gain a place in the front rank of the world's workers. I used to think that when the a b c's were learned, the most difficult step toward all education was taken, but these are only the im- plements with which we work to acquire facts and learn truth. Those who have reached the higher round are never satisfied with what they have done and willing to lay aside their work, but still push on, hoping to attain higher eminence. Only to careful study can we ascribe the progress made in the different branches of science and art in the past. The earth has been called the geologist's puzzle-box, and in the starry heavens above us the astronomer has found problems too complicated to be solved by ordinary processes. A We may not be building a structure by means of which we expect to make our names famous, but we are building the invisible framework of character. May the material of which it is composed be the best, and may it be held together by the nails of pure motive and noble purpose. Life is made up of success and failure, and those who are the most successful are the truest and best workers. We all expect success, and this stimulates us to greater activity. Often, however, instead of our efforts being crowned with success, we meet with failure. but our failures, as well as our successes, should be steps by which we rise to greater use- fulness. Now, we rise only as we place our difficulties under our feet. Usually the greater the natural endowment, the higher the aim. Buffin's definition of genius, It is patiencef' does not seem exaggerated when the achievements of patience are considered. It is an old and oft-quoted proverb that Where there's a will thereis a way. Though the way may be beset with difficulties and progress seems almost impossible, yet

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From a distance I once again see that magnificent new Science Hall. It has now be- come a center of activity. The American Hag Hies from the towers, the college colors are entwined about its pillars. From within come the strains of Hail! Alma Mater, Suddenly the portals are thrown open, and in cap and gown come young men and women. Each carries in his hand a document which contains the official signature of that institution, each carries in his heart a desire to build mansionsg each carries the realization that obstacles are in his way--that difficulties must be over-come. As the din of activity dies away and the profession passes slowly before me, I would that each one would turn and raise his eyes to the stately towers that seem to proclaim the message of the architect in the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sealn l:fFf Fl Thought So teach us to number our days, prays the Psalmist, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. A man of wisdom looks below the surface of things, he is not content with the trap- pings of learning. In humility he goes to Nature and to the sages, like Abou Ben Adhem, he asks, Write me as one who loves his fellow-man , smitten with a sense of his own nothingness, he bows his head to Infinite Wisdom. True wisdom, therefore, has little to do with books, it, is, rather, the possession of those who attune their hearts to that inner voice, where whispers the poet in each of us. It is the true poet, as Iames Russell Lowell writes, Who utter wisdom from the central deep, And, listening to the inner How of things, Speak to the age out of eternityf' Wisdom separates the wheat from the chaff which exists in every book and in every life. Whatever bit of a man's work is honestly and benevolently done, said Ruskin in his mellowed old age, that bit is his book. It is mixed always with evil fragments and with ill-done, redundant, affected work. But if you read rightly, you will easily discover the true bits. Knowledge in the mind and wisdom in the heart-how different they are! Cowper has drawn that distinction for us: Knowledge is proud that he has learn'd so much, Wisdom is humble that he knows no more,

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by overcoming those that are nearest, a way through the others may be opened. lt has been said of a distinguished artist, that he painted the chips scattered about his father's farm, and then struggled through many narrow straits of poverty and oppression before the great men ofthe nation came to his studio for their portraits. Only by perseverance are we able to overcome the opposition which We meet in life. The sweetest flowers are guarded by the sharpest thorns, so our greatest achievements may be surrounded by the most try- ing difficulties. 'Heax en is not reached at '1 single bound V 'Q L 1 1 , But we build the ladder by which We rise From the lowl earth to the vaulted skies, Y a And mount to its summit round by roundf ft! Spring Dance