Repository: UIHistories Project: Sophograph - 1890 [PAGE 39]

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THE

IOGRAPH.

3^

general rule, the students who have to earn their own way

through college make the best scholars; for they have a

greater desire for an education, and realize more fully wbj they are going to school. These student- eoiue from all pari of our country and some come from other countries.

COLLEGE STUDENTS.

BE acquiring of h k knowledge awakens and stimula the mind. It is not the mere information which strengthens the intellect, but rather the struggle made to obtain it. It is the training of the faculties, the broadening of the powers of perception. The different lines of study •ducate the different faculties; but throughout them all, there is one single, grand aim in view, to learn how to live, that life in itself may be made more perfect, the grandest i s always coming from the most perfect lives. 'I i many [dents do not realize why they are studying. They look upon Bchool-days as a part of life and not as the b preparation for duti .Many, too, do not decide in which field they shall work until their college days are alio < over. In the univereities and colleges we find a collection of young people whose characters differ as widely as their position- in lit'*-. We find, Btudying side by Bide, the son of thi >mn laboring-man and th< a of the millionaire. Here, their rank as «|. rmines the positions which they dl hold. nil doing their work earnestly and faithjlly; others are slighting it. A portion of the students h. d lx T elementary instructions than others and conseOj who r prepared for the college course; bul he •- hi* b < il ways is on the sure road to improvement. are rel t upon their own r< >un J; other are sent •' their parenl with an abundant supply of money. Asa

The years spent in college test the character of a

dent. His associates ditler greatly in moral character, and he must choose for himself whose company he will frequent.

T

He m a y have the standard of his character lowered, by his

associates, or he may have it raised: but, being free to choose, he is responsible. If once led into wrong doing, the power

to resist temptation in the future be

mes lessened, and the

changes which are made in his character here will be perman e n t — l e a v i n g their impress upon his entire life. Manx-

leave their homes for the first time when they come to college, and they see here their first glimpc of the world.

Meeting day by day. the students learn to know each other intimately. They learn the thoughts, opinions, and habits of one another, and become bound together by ties of friendship. They are united by the bond of class-feelinj

and also by being students of the same university. Th

class* often contend with one another, but it i^ an horn rivalry. The brightest struggle for the class honors, and

t h o u g h jealousy may arise, there usually arises with it a

respeet for the superior mental qualities of the opponenl

This competition is in some respects beneficial, since it callforth earnest and good work. ( liege bovs are t h o u g h t bv maiiv to be reckless an daring, and while it is true that there have been grave misdeeds done in many of our colleges, if we compare s t u d e n t s with any other body of y o u n g ] 'pie of equal

numbers, it will be found that the students are equally m< il and law abiding, and thai in aome respects then- acti<

more commendable. T h e r e is in y o u t h itself a love mirth and fun. This spirit is repressed in the udent'