isa-normaladvance-1914-00208

Description:	208THE NORMAL ADVANCEand ambitions. The individual may have been born into the world with a stunted body and a blighted mind. Deformed limbs and flabby muscles may have been his heritage the power of ready apperception and association un¬ known to his mind. Such an individual has great limitations. The deformed dwarf may not aspire to the glory of the athlete neither the idiot to the fields of Kant or Hegel. Not only heredity but environment also often spells disaster. Dare we point the finger of scorn at the waifs of the slums and say it is their own fault? They are a part of all they have met. And they have met the down and out, the miserable, the wretched, the unhappy—men, women and children suffering not the execra¬ tion of an angry God but the cold indifference of a selfish world. Those children are the sum total of experience, their own and their an¬ cestors. Heredity and environment are the ob¬ stacles to many insurmountable and therefore must be taken into consideration when a blue¬ print of lifes course is being made.But whatever the tendencies and limitations transmitted by heredity whatever obstacles erected by environment, man must make the best of them. The course of action remains over the same—to strive to seek to find and not to yield. This is the criterion of all de¬ velopment of all achievement and glory of man. It matters not so much what heights we really attain, how nearly we realize our ambitions or how much applause we receive from the world. Our feats of brain and arms may be performed in the shadows of an un¬ known land and not be illumined by the lime¬ light of glory. The task may be lowly and seemingly of little concern, yet what we are, we are. The insignificant deed well done may be the mustard seed that will some day show forth its inherent importance. Our acts may mean the shaping of the destiny of nations. Duty lies in the work at hand, and however ignoble, the manner of its performance deter¬ mines the final record of deeds done. For—All service ranks the same with God  With God Avhose puppets best and worst Are we there is no last nor first.This sublime thought gives us in a nutshell the true philosophy of effort and aspiration. Doing the deed at hand well merits its own re¬ ward as such and at the same time becomes a stepping stone to greater fields of duty. Thus we climb by work well done.To the college man and the college woman the appeal of the doer is of vital importance. To them the question often comes, Will there be a place for me when I have finished my course? The answer,, yes or no, will be determined by the student himself. If he is efficient, for efficiency is the sole requirement of the world, he will be in demand if not, he will be declined. It behooves all then to will to be efficient, to be ready for the task and op¬ portunity. Daily class room routine may be¬ come a drudgery the laboratories and libraries places of meaningless work, but it should be otherwise. The true student performs his dif¬ ficult task with a smile. He does things be¬ cause it is engrossing and compelling work not drudgery. He has in him the spirit—I will. Such is the student who will be efficient. He is the one upon whom the world will put a premium. He will bo in demand because of his fidelity to purpose and the will to be there.Not only in the college student but also in every other individual does the world demand a spirit of the iron will. The world is filled with great and perplexing problems of social, moral and economic import. It wants men and women to meet these problems in a modern scientific and intelligent manner. The world may no longer leave to blind chance the solu¬ tion of evils that are ground in the very fabric of social being. The problem of capital and labor, the problem of the rich and the poor of constructive and destructive forces require for their solution the best minds the world can afford. The crisis cannot be far distant. The
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/32672
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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