Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-06-05 | Page 8 | What College Means to You

. WHAT COLLEGE MEANS TO YOU v- By Lcwette B. Pollock. (Teacher of English In East Technical High School, Cleveland. Ohio.) "Help me out," I begged my friend, the social worker. "I want to tell my girls who are going to college what they will gain there that will mean most to theni after graduation. You have been working for f"ve years. What has meant most to you?" She let her gaze rest on the smoke begrimed restaurant into which we had been forced to drop for a bite to eat. I "Ideal3," she sajd finally. I - "Yes but how can I explain to them?" "Tell them," she bent forward across the table "Thai no matter what work they take up after graduation, they will have to see much of the sordid side of city life. It is the same In teaching as in social work, the newspaper news-paper game, business, or the industrial world they will miss tho atmosphere of spiritual calm and beauty which Is characteristic of college. I "But the ideals they have gained there, social ideals you may choose to -call them, or ideals of service, they! can carry with them into the world. " !j "Tell them that at college they will ' i learn to beljeve in honor, in courage, in tenderness, unselfishness, in purity.; And tell them that, after graduation.': i tho world will try to shake their be-llofs. be-llofs. But if they hold fast to these Inner convictions, if they 'keep the faith." life for them will go on being beautiful and worth while ,in spite of i the most sordid surroundings. Tell them this, will you?" i As she spoke, 1 was carried in memory mem-ory back into the midst of n group of college girls gathered in my own 'room for discussion. We had just heard tho superintendent of a large reform school for girls give a talk. She had told us shocking things, such as we, hedged in by our beautiful college environment, en-vironment, had not known to be possible. "How can she be so cheerful and sweet after ' years of such work?" asked one of the girls, awestruck. It was Mary, a person as sane as her name, who answered. "That's going to be the hard thing. It's easy to live our ideals here, where those around us think as we do and everything is so peaceful and beautiful. beauti-ful. "The question is, can we hold fast to them when we go out into the ivorld?" I am leaving with you, oh high school girls who are going to college, the social worker's message, andi Mary's question. j You will have to answer it for yourself.