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Show PURPOSE OF COLLEGE College educa.ion cannot put anything any-thing into a person. Whether a young man or a young woman can make effective use of a college course is determined largely before the young person is born. This fact is inadequately understood by many persons who are sincerely interested in education. The word "educate" comes from a Latin expression meaning lead out. Thus education originally meant a leading out or drawing out of talents already possessed by the person to be educated. When we understand this original meaning, which is still the true one. we avoid the common error of expecting ex-pecting a college to make a wise man out of a dullard, or a high class citizen cit-izen out of a naturally inferior one. While college education can put nothing into a person, it can and does draw things out of him. It stim ulates his (lnnentent powers in a thousand ways. It "quickens" him b helping him to discover and to develop de-velop his possibilities, and by showing show-ing him how his powers can be used to promote the welfare of society and thus to increase his own happiness. happi-ness. One of the greatest pleasures comes from consciously increasing the happiness of one's fellows. There are many ways in which to do this. He may write a splendid book, produce pro-duce a beautiful new flower, build a fine highway, discover a great truth, develop a superior breed of ulant or animal, or compose excellent music. His ability to do any of these or of countless other beneficial things largely depends upon whether he has the necessary native power, and on whether that power has been awakened, and his mind and spirit disciplined. College education of the right sort emphasizes this fact and helps the .student tn lenrn tn nnnlv the nrinM- ples upon which the fact is based. While college education usually increases in-creases a person's earning power, this is by no means its most important import-ant result. Education does not give a person a right to live without working. Rather it increases one's obligation to work harder and to do for society many important things which usually cannot be done by the uneducated. It is wqrth while for young people who expect to enter college to consider con-sider the3e simple facts! If these students will realize clearly that college col-lege education vastly increases one's opportunities and at the same time increases his obligation to serve his fellows, they will meet with less disappointment dis-appointment make greater progress and find deeper satisfaction than they otherwise will. F. D. Farrell. Dean of Agriculture, Kansas State Agricultural colleee. |