Show WINNING PAPER IN HIGH SCHOOL CONTEST the following composition was the winner in the valedictorian contest of the high school which wa was 8 won by miss ada christensen Chrls on the theme why graduate bihy why should one graduate from high school why indeed what difference does the little slip of paper received from the board of education make in the lives of all of us are are we no any more advanced in the steps of civilization for receiving this recognition of so many hours of work then too what do w we e mean by the word graduate webster says it is to admit or elevate to a certain grade or degree especially in a college or university to admit to an honorable standing defined by a diploma I 1 would say that graduation meant an acknowledgment of a completed step in education which gives the possessor of such an acknowledgment the privilege of passing on to the next and higher step in education why should students all over the world be eager and anxious to graduate it costs money to go to school and there must be some ultimate aim some recognized advantage some lodestone in education that tha t draws these many people on causing them and their loved ones to make sacrifices that they otherwise would not havo have to make what is this force that acts act on human beings much as ct a 1111 magnet net acts upon steel it is 13 tu overwhelming desire to combite coran ete that step in education and 6 be of more benefit 0 of society soo lety either by passing on to to a higher institution ution of lo learning arning or by taking up some useful occupation in lito in other words the desire to graduate to graduate from any educational institution means much to ally individual As was stated before to graduate means to have ment of work completed and what does the work completed by a high school graduate represent it represents a certain amount of mental training the amount of mental training represented will depend largely upon the nature of the graduate upon what subjects he has taken upon udon bow he has adapted and applied himself t to these thes studies a ubon the efficiency of his instructors in teaching the important phai 63 of these several subjects and upon the ability rif of tm to retain what he has learned sut but at any rate even in the most inefficient graduate there has been some de gree of 0 mental training and mental training is the key to all high and godly things in life it is by the development of our brains that we are able to work out the problems of life how many great mechanical inventions have been made by men who knew nothing of the laws of physical nature has it been the undeveloped brain of the savage that has given to the world the knowledge that makes it possible to communicate with the remotest parts of the earth without wire or pole no these things have been done by men who have developed their brains by training mental training also gives us a deeper appreciation of the beautiful and artistic parts of life A person who has studied the harmonies and wo wonders riders and struggles of nature is moie apt to see beauty and harmony v wherever he rever lie he goes than is the one aniio ho has never made such a study then the appreciation of good literature and art is brought about by the reading of such llera Ilera ture and the study of such art it is in school that we learn why literature is considered good or worthless and why we should always read good literature we re learn the conditions that some of these literary masters have labored under and in learning of the many obstacles they have overcome we recene e inspiration and encouragement to apply to our own ih leies es thus a high school course serves to tn courage and stimulate to higher and nobler deeds the one who has taken advantage of it high school not only develops ones ability to solve the problems of life to appreciate more the beauty of this old w world orld to do better deeds and greater service tor for so society clety but it also develops the capacities for enjoying the leisure hours of ones alf life the social vantage grounds ot of in any institution of learning are gibat and these advantages are just as necessary in formulating a well balanced individual as is the training of the brain to do work institutions of learning offer the proper kind of advantages afong this line and this is why a graduate of such an institution is better able to meet people socially as well as mentally than is one who has not gone to school A graduate of high school is not so likely to waste his time loafing as is one who has never had any high school training simply because the graduate has something else to think about and do while the others brain is blank and there is no desire to do things this shows that the educated man makes the better citizen for an industrious wideawake wide awake and alert man will see opportunities to make his community a better place in which to live will know how to exercise the franchise will bo be more influential in bringing about improvements prove ments of a civic nature than il ill tho the man who sits around and knocks he will bo be an asset rather than a burden to the state tor for statistics prove that it Is the ignorant people who commit the most crime it if the type of citizenship is to be improved in the united oses the number of educated people musi must also bo be increased tho the successful completion of the work prescribed in high school is tho the rey key with which we may unlock the door to higher education the v world orld Is crying for loaders leaders and one must have education to be leader investigations haip shown that less than one per nt of the american america n people are college graduates yet this 01 one 0 percent hns has furnished 65 55 of congress ga of our judges of the supreme court and over 50 of the distinguished people of the united states these figures alone arc strong arguments in favor of 0 high school and college graduation besides the education offers in better service to ety deeper ot of all the beautiful things I 1 of 0 eifel alte ingre increasing pink z possibilities of becoming a leaded among men and the numberless other offer things already discussed there is still another and to some soma the greatest advantage that graduation from an institution of learning offers this is the economic advantage that the educated person bas baa over the uneducated one do you know that a boy trained in high school when twenty five years of age receives on an average more per year than a b boy oy oi of th the e same yo ago who has hachik a ano illg h la school training and that in the seven y caeg anz t b high school graduate has W worked li laiq 0 fi haa 2225 22 more dollars for hio hie labor than 69 the boy without such training receives in the eleven years that he ha has worked these figures have been compiled and published by men who havo have studied this question thoroughly and they are the result of their investigations another report based upon carefully compiled labor statistics says an uneducated laborer earns on the al average per year for forty N ears a total of A high school graduate earns on an average 1000 per year tor for forty years a total of the difference is the money value of a high school education divide by the number of days spent in the elementary grades and in high school and it gives the average value in increased earning power for each day that the student attends school taking the word of this report and considering that a high school graduate goes to high school four full years this graduate has eggo worth of potential earning ponner stored up within him Is this such a paltry amount of interest on the investment of four years of high school and besides let us not forget the thou thousand saud and one other benefits derived which cannot be measured in dollars and cents wh why graduate because education develops develop 3 personality because education develops ability to solve the problems of life because it adds to onos ono service to mankind because it assists him in helping him himself elf ment mentally ally morall morally y and physically and because education is the most lital asset an individual can possess again we may ask why by graduate but ask it in a different tone of voice and in answering this question uso use the words of alexander pope A little learning is a dangerous thing drink deep or taste not the spring there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain and drinking largely sobers us again ADA christensen |