The Elon College Weekly
VOL. 1. New Series
BURLINGTON. N. C, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1910.
And Elon Collcfre, N. C.
NO. 19
Choosing a College. Lome from an entirely different region college for somethmg the college cannot been there before, and what«the atmude
from his own. The mingling of East give-skill and practice in doing some- of those men toward state and church, to-
There are some pospective students to South is one thin? that will bring immediate pecuniary , ward society and human progress? her
whome some parts of an article by Presi- of the finest influences in the American return. decades some colleges have exalted
dent Faunce of Brown University pub- college. If a boy enters a college in the When Cecil Rhodes died, the world '•el.g.ous conv.ct|on, and others have not;
lished in the Christian Endeavor World city or town where he has always lived, was amazed at his great bequest of ten ^o-opera ion
Aim 4 will he of interest. he should by all means secure a room in million dollars to Oxford University for others have 'aught in epen enc^
college buildings, and so acquire a ,he establishment of the “Rhodes scholar- ^°nie have P'oduced hne essayists and
Aug. 4, will be of interest.
It is by no means necessary that every the
man that gets an education should get it true college home,
in College. Hugh Miller found his edu- A further reason for cho ce la the finan-
cation mainly in the stone-quarry. Charles cial reason, becaus» the institution offers
Darwin received most of his training on a education at low rates of tuition, small
S"a-voyage three years in length. The cost of living, or abundant scholarship
superintendent of schools in one of our
American elites secured part of his edu
cation while serving as captain of a fishing
schooner.
The two essentials of success in every
calling—power to concentrate attention
on the thmg in hand, and power to work
with other people—may be gained In
many places and in many ways. If a
student is going to College, he should first
of all find what he goes for. When he
knows what he is really after, then he can
decide where to find It.
Certain false and foolish id :as should
at be set aside. A student that goes
to college because he wants to shine as
aid.
Itistiment ot tne t\noaes scnoiar- , , ,
ships." But the surprising thing was not while others have trained men for
the amount of the gift. It was that such r J , ,U
a man should desire such an education Jhis test may also be applied to the
tor his fellow men. The builder of rail- *'“dent body. Let the sub-freshmen go
roads, the opener of mines, the discover- and meet the students face to face, and
er of great fields of mineral wealth, the ‘^Ik with them. Are the kind of men he
Here many schoolboys are misled, and man whose whole career was marked by w^ts to e. r^ t ey c ean m y
fy abusesLve arisen. Intending stu- ruthless ambition in ^Irurfn ^ ^u^-
dents often forget that a low rate of tui- material resources-surelv ^ ^^ivalrous in temper? A man's
tion may mean low sa aries for the facu- q college friendships may endure through
ly. and hence inferior men on the leach- ted training of mediaeval Uxrord. me On^ shnnld rhoo«e
ing force. In many institutions the low home of_ vanished Ideals and impossible out his career. One should choo.e
tuition Is malnliined simply becaise sen- loyalties. Surely he vyould devote his
iors are engaged to teach freshmen, and great fortune to establishing the finest
graduates six months out of college are school of mines In the world; to deve.op-
employed to teach seniors. mg railroad engineers, or to the scientific
Scholarship aid can usually be secured study of agriculture,
by really worthy students, and should al- None of these types^f education seem
UUi Ills i-aicci.
though fully when he chooses for life.
But the best of all test is to be found
in the college faculty. “It matters not
so much that you study.” said Emerson,
"as with whom you study.” Are the
members of the faculty men that are nat-
by really worthy students, and should al- None of these types of education seem- t^eir generation? Are
ways be received with the inner resolve, ed to hirn essential Firmly he believed Instmctlve Interest in
If not the epllcit promise, to return it to tnat for the empire-builders of the lulure
an athlete In wasting precious years for a ^ay be passed on the othc stu
transient and useless renown. One that Jg^ts in their ti.rn.
enters college because it is the easiest usually far better to borrow a
thinr fo do. because he his no! the am- ....^r ...ore
bltlon or the courage to go to \/ork, is thousand dollars—during the
squandering his powers. Going to col- years than to undermine one’ shealth
lege" ought to be going to work. One underfeeding or overwork. To
that enters college merely to taste its so- ^ ^ no economy,
cial life, to join a fraternitv, or to share in (o fe wild extrava-
freshman escapades, is surely making a squandering heal h and depleting
bdci bargsin. He loses sll tne benent ^ u ^ | i
the college as soon as possible, so that Oxford with all its faults, could give bet
ter equtpiTK nt that all the school A ‘en
gineering or schools of commerce, with
all their virtues. And no man will dare
. i.o omV tl.«i Cv-c;l R-Kodcs
tent to judge.
The student that intelligently enters a
they men with an instinctiv*^ interest in
young life, men that can inspire us with
love of learning and make the scholar s
life seem worth while? Are they men
that can speak with authority and tell US
what we can never find In any books?
I'o know the man who knows is the
first requisite In any study.
1 ..V ., ' In the small college there has always
real college deliberately accepts the view g, priceless opportunity for real ac-
■L .. ..L- 1 . tk. quiintance with the teaching staff. Think
of what It meant to a student to have
that “the longest way round is th( short
est way home." He makes profession of
faith that he cares for more than swift
that would come hrom serious
he loses all the bracing and broadening
effe:l of a serious business career. The
rich and splendid years between eighteen
and twenty-two come to us only once.
No human being can afford to invest
those years without fair hope of hand
some ivldend. The question, “Why go
to college?” lies back of the question,
“What college shall 1 choose?
Mosl students in America choose their
dollege for geographical reasons. The
stitution that lies nearest is the one to
•—r‘ ° gance, squanaermg neai.n ana ucpicuuK taitn tnat ne cares loi muic umu »yyni Mark Hopkins as teacher in every study
the beneht j„(gHg(,tual energy before the life-work is and cheap success; that he waiits to form throughout the senior year. Our large
study, and . j rolleoe course anri ‘‘fnilnw the oleam:" that he ‘
faitth of the founder of Phillips Andover
energy uriujc me aiiu succcas, inav nv,
reached. The cheapest college course jjeals and “follow the gleam;
may turn out to be the most wastful In '
time and vitality.
Here a note of warning should be
sounded clealy and constantl.. The
student that wants simplv skill In the Uie .
of tools, or practice In the routine of an Academy, who wrote that the Institution
office, or to make sure of bread and but- yvas “for instructing youth, not only In
ter. should waste no time in a college English and Latin grammar, writing and
course. arithmetic, and those sciences wherein
A certain father sent his son to an they are commonly taught, but mo^e es-
. ag icultural college in the West, on condl- pecially to learn them lhe great end and
‘ii ’ t Vu^ tlon that the boy shoud not be compelled real business of living. bamuel rhiliip s
which they naturally gravitate. fhe ^is time in the study of literature grammar ma; have been faulty, but his
State un^ers ties of the West usually dra w to waste h.s t y_^
few students outssde their own S.ate. .j,,, ^e shall learn to braid a
Even m our oldes l^astern instituaons hold a plough!” But such
the ffreat majority of the students come . l i J
from within a radius ofafifty miles. Many accomplishments ^"^"“^Vo'boys Jkh
men cannot afford, long ,ourneys several -ble^or^^n^ .he farm. To boys
times a year.
colleges are now Insisting on many small
aims not to put money in his pocket, but cjjylsjons of the class and much personal
to put wo.'th into his life, and that he acquaintance. Without such acquaint-
gladly gives four years to self-mastery for g^ce, without intimate understanding of a
the sake of public servic^ He shares the (eacher's methods, ideals, and attitudes to
ward life, no real education Is possible.
With it, even if there be but a small li
brary and little equipment, education is
constant and Inevitable.
If, then, we go to college, let us go where
we bel'eve we can find more than costly
buildings, gates, and towers. Let us
look for keen-minded, big-hearted, culti
vated men. In finding them we shall
not fall to find ourselves."
A Case for the Anti-Cruelty So
ciety.
If 1 were asked, then, to name a stand
ard, 1 would say: The test of a college
Is In the men it has produced and is pro
ducing today. The true test is not
. ducing today. 1 tie ttue test is not in Little Alice, whose family livea m a
Oihe^foSTLreTo such an ambition college will prove irrele- stately buildings or shaded quadrangles, rather large house with a comfortable
Uthere tooliswy aeiire lo a ipmntinc? array of all oossible— equipment of servants to
times a year, winers looiisuiy uc^ic . j j
go home every Sunday during the four van^^an^^ eary^^^ ^
college yfa's- thus failmg to become horizon, ad-
Indentified with the community in which college is to ^ , i l __
they study. Others naturally attend the Justment to our intellectual heritage ap_
■ . ■ L ibev hi.ve preciat on of the beautiful in literature and
institution Lture and art, love of truth and loyalty .....
^own up, ^ 03 g courage, self-control and power of know them.’
WheTefaUy ^ould^seek a college attention sympathy with all sorts and cori- The alumni of an institution are its con-
I 1 f J J ditionj of men. and power to lead ones
near at hand or far away dependson the di ^
boy. If quite ypg. I may be belter for j ^ things, and wants
him to live at home for a time. If he stud^n^^
the Arrencan college.
From one-third to one-half of the aver- j n
entSg college; 7 possible, boys that reason often Is that the student came to a college to-day may well ask. Who ha.
111111 lU ii»c a«.
lives in a crude frontier town or a remote
rural settlement. It may be best for him
to seek a college In an old. conservative,
and cultured community. In any case,
stalely DUiiaings or snaucu quauiaug.c^. .cev. ..—... - ---
not in a templing array of all possible— equipment of servants to run it smoothely
or Impossible—courses of study, not In went home from school one day with a
the “star” athletes of evanescent fame, little schoolmate, whose parents were in
but in the output of the college as shown much less affluent circumstances. She
in human lives. Of the colleges we may had a very good time, and on coming
say, “By their men -or women—ye shall home was telling her mother all about it,
when all at once she sobered up and
said :
slant strength. The college of course. " But. mother dear, they do one very
cannot claim all the credit for a notable dreadful thing. 1 sort of hate to tell you
career, if so. It must accept all discredit about it. for it's kind of cruel and you
when a graduate does an Ignoble deed, mightn’t let me go again."
But the world rightly believes that Presi- However, the desire to leH it pre-
dent Taft owes much to Yele. and Sena- vailed, and In an awful voice she whis
pered :
" They use their own grandmother for
a cook."—Harper’s Monthly.