Winning An Education

( Originally Published 1885 )

SOMETIME in the life of every boy he asks himself these questions : " Can I win success in life ? Is it worth while for me to strive to better my condition, or should I be content to plod along in the narrow path I am treading ? " These queries are apt to come to boys who are fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, and some-times to those who are twenty years old.

How well I remember the day when the problem presented itself to my mind with the greatest force ! I was, perhaps, seventeen years of age. I was at work earning my living, as I had been for four years. I was receiving a dollar and a quarter a week besides my board, When the problem was pressed home upon me I was trudging up a sandy and rather steep hill in a rural district, far from the village where my work was. I was all alone. The question, struggling for an answer, overpowered me. I spoke right out in a loud voice, " 0 that someone with judgment would tell me ! 0 that I could know whether there is any chance for a higher life-work for me, or whether I must keep plodding on upon this low and monotonous plane ! " But no one could tell me. I had to face the problem alone.

Then again, several years later, when I had begun teaching school and had secured as good a position as there was in our half of the county, the question came in another form : " What shall I strive to do ? In my present calling I have but little chance to rise, and I am earning less than $350 a year. I know of no way of learning a trade to advantage; I have no capital to make a start in the mercantile or commercial world. What can I do ? "

The decision at which I arrived was, as I now think, fortunate. I decided to obtain a college education.

I have had a long pedagogical experience. I was a teacher for thirty years. During that time I suppose more than three thousand boys have been under my instruction. I have addressed, in twenty-five states of our country, more than seventy-five thousand teachers. I have observed carefully, during the last sixty years, the lives of those whom I knew in their boyhood, and now, when I have passed the allotted space for a man's life, and have entered upon the last quarter of a century, I think that I have a right to ex-press an opinion upon this momentous question for boys and young men.

And this is the conclusion to which I have definitely arrived ; namely, that any boy of good health, a fairly good constitution, and average intellect can attain success, accidents omitted, in any profession or business which he may choose. Of course he must be willing to pay the price, in order to win. He must put aside whatever interferes with his success in the course he has chosen, and he must strictly adhere to his purpose. The point to be observed is that success is within his reach in any direction he may deliberately select and strictly adhere to.

This is not saying that if he chooses the law he may achieve the success of a Daniel Webster, or if he decides to be an inventor that he is sure to be more successful than Edison or Morse. It does not imply that if he chooses to be rich he may distance Carnegie. All these things depend upon circumstances beyond his control. If he should determine in his youth that he will be President of the United States, that very decision would go to show that he has not the requisite ability to fulfil his longings. But what I wish to make clear is that he may win at least a fair degree of success in whatever calling he may bend his energies, provided he adheres to one purpose and does not falter.

One of the most important matters for a young man is the securing of an education. Conditions have greatly changed in the last half century. Fifty years ago a few men sought an education in preparation for the Christian ministry or the practice of medicine or law. In those days mercantile pursuits, commerce, agriculture, and manufacturing were carried on by men of less education, so that a college-bred man was seldom found in any of those lines of business. Now all this is different. In all the multifarious lines of business, so greatly increased from the conditions of former times, the leaders are more generally educated men. It is, therefore, true that for leadership and greater success a liberal education to-day is needed by business men in all pursuits.

The question now presents itself, whether poor boys, wholly dependent upon their own exertions, can secure a college education, or whether this is to be only the privilege of the rich.

I unhesitatingly answer that any boy of good health, fair mind, and high moral character can secure a college education without undermining his constitution, and without serious embarrassment from debt.

In the first place the facilities for acquiring an advanced education have greatly increased, and in many cases the necessary college expenses are quite moderate. There are colleges in various parts of our country where board, room, and tuition may be had for the small sum of from $100 to $200 a year.

There are such colleges in New England, the Middle States, the South, and the West. Of course it is well known that at some of our best and largest universities the expenses are much greater$600, $800, and $1000 a year, and even more. But as good, as strong, and as useful an education may often be obtained at the smaller and less expensive colleges as at the large universities.

But can a young man earn the necessary funds to carry him through college ? Let me give you some examples which have come under my own observation. My room-mate for three years at Phillips Academy, Andover, came from a farm in western Massachusetts. When he entered Phillips Academy he had saved just fifty dollars to start with. He had three years of study at the academy, four years in Amherst College, and three years at the seminary ten consecutive years of study. At the end of this decade he owed only fifty dollars. He had received no help from his father or family. Much of the time he boarded himself, both in the academy and in college. One year he was caterer for a boarding club and had his board for his services, but he was enabled to meet most of his expenses by means of the wages earned by farm work during the long summer vacations.

Another friend of mine managed a winter's course of lyceum lectures both at Andover and at Amherst. His plan was this : he corresponded with the most popular platform speakers, such as Wendell Phillips, John B. Gough, Henry Ward Beecher, and also with a concert club. He got their prices and estimated what his total expenses would be. Then he sold or engaged tickets sufficient to cover all expenses. He made profit enough to pay all his college bills for the year. Another, a Connecticut Yankee, earned his way through college by going West in the summer and buying wood, which he sold here to the manufacturers.

The opportunities for college students to earn money have greatly increased within the past few years. A large number are employed as table waiters at the college club and boarding houses, and a still larger number spend their long summer vacations waiting on table or doing other kinds of service at the watering-places. Many do janitor work, taking care of halls, school rooms, or lecture rooms.

If the college is located in a city the student who has had some experience in teaching can get appointed as teacher in an evening school and earn, perhaps, enough to pay half of his expenses. One can often find work in writing, and during recent years a student has frequently paid his way by the use of a typewriter. This kind of work is constantly increasing.

Musical and elocutionary ability and training are always in demand, and often command large pay. Writing for papers and magazines is a fruitful source of revenue. Reporting for the large city dailies some-times pays all of one's college expenses. Indeed, it is no unusual thing for a bright young man who is well trained, not only to earn all his expenses but to lay up money while going through college.

The colleges frequently furnish work for students in various lines. Moreover, there are funds in many institutions for the material assistance of students who are dependent upon their own exertions, and in most colleges there are numerous scholarships which cover a large part, and in many cases the whole of the tuition. It should further be mentioned that the facilities for a young man to save money before entering college, with which to pay his expenses while in college, are constantly increasing.

Let each one strike out a course for himself. The best advice one can give a young man is to insist that he shall always rely upon his own judgment.

Dr. Wayland used to state it in this way :

"Young gentlemen, learn to rely upon the decisions of your own intellects." Make up your mind as to what you wish to make of yourself, and then go forward, doubting nothing. Imitate nobody, but strike out a course for yourself and adhere to it.