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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1934)
I * ' I I II 1 * 1 ! ^ 1 19,?19:i4 •» 1 v_.« crea ADVirK TO FRESH Ml ^ i The fi!i‘shman da»s this year is crtpecte<l to be one of th^ larui'st Sn the history <\f the institution. A cer tain numljFr of this class will be sent here by their liarcn^s wifch their own K^nd^inK consent. They won't sijrvite! S^me Will passively expose themselves to the atmo^phett <»f this college in order to^obtain a shtH»j>- skin After completion of the four year process of ab sorption. Ttliev will accomplish nothiijg!^ Others have < c>f a hilariously good I I * f k inie. They had better attend a co-etl scIum*!! There is. ►we\*er. i ill hojH*. Whenever a group of people em bark $n at enter]>rise» there are always, certain indi viduals wh<| throw themselves whole heartedly and un- reservtctly Into the attainment of the Objects and aims of the enU*rprisf. In this case the enterprise is a col lege education which consists of the development of thought an| of a capability for action. It is hoped that the greater percentage of the* entering class will fal! into this ca^egoty’. Ollegtj life is not an evolutionary stage Indween high schoor and the commercial, scientific, or artistic worlds; it ^s a distinct transition. In the secondary school.^ the things taught and the objects desired are extremely \vigueiand indefinite. This state of affairs the fact that our public edu- :y politicians rather than in- ►side the point! When one en- ters upon a college career, everything is different to a greater o^ lesser degree, but, nevertheless—differ- ^^ent. The mithisU of instructions are ;different; the daily rdutimi is different; the psychology is different: in fact,'the cp mpl4te environment is different. The stu- dent must adjust himself to these differences during the first pare of his freshman year or else he will find himself disrrfedly entangled in an inextricable turmoil. */in * , aim IIMH 1 is almost entirely due to tt cators are very often p«»tty tellectuals. But this is l»esi< The pui capacities of a college (ducation is to direct the talents of each individual into channels that will Ik* most beneficial to society as a whole .and which wall therefore enhance the prestigje of humanity genetal. The individual, however, must not; only recognize ihift fact, but must make it coincident with his college career. The group can not aiuj will not bur den itself witp the development of the individual per sonality; the; responsibility rests upon himself. He is the helnjsmafi of hi* ship of destiny—the master of his fate. J MORE ADVICE! r« •••.] '' I I ' ' witl the »ar will ipstituli him Gotl and his for ii "rlf 1 \l\\[ ' We'need not waste much time over the student, because he is the descendant of ^he same caliber; moreso we need not waste ^ a 1 m 1 % the herd-lK>Und student, for he is the unthi we should praise Allah that the herd p ready berth--otherwise we should l»e tr tinually with the individual blunders of hi million brothers. No, our tears must Im» sa group yet more unfortunate—*tha disillusi and women found on every campus. Thousands enter college every ye idea that four years in their chosen institution w bridge the gap between high school and an paid position, and will provide all the mvessagy equip ment fbr the living of a happy and contented ife after graduation. After their first year they begin to won*- der about the truth of their supposition, as so ihomores they stand ready to admit a common mista e, as po tential seniors they flounder in a sea of confu ling self- analysis, and as graduates they bawl at the i tream of life like cattle being forced to cross a floo 1-swollen river. This group of mis-led men and woroeii are not primarily of the unthinkmg sort. They are mist poor victims of faulty self-judgment. But pn they find themselves in a desert, fallen blistering truth: “I took the wrong course Joe * e*s ver- Let us take an example: Joe Gud comes to college—A & M. let us comes from an intelligent, well-to-do family, high marks in his pre-college school work, satile. He comes to college. He has decided! to la^ame an engineei’. An engineer's job is romantic* It's job. Nothing sissy about it. No woman’s job. He istarts in. 0>sh! how easy it is. (He c his high school training a while). After his fi eshman ^ year heV still confident that he’ll be-a whifc o an en gineer. • I . 1 i i | g Sophomore! it begins to get hard, hut he«tackU‘s * it—a man. Some nights, studying, he catches ^himself envying his roommate—apparently enjoying Ja book tithni English Literature. By Gosh! He would; like to take that course, instead of so much math. Aluays did like English! Aw, the devil. Get on this engine ?ring-^*- this is meat -this is a real man’s course. . Junior! Do 1 still want to lx* an engineer f Guess so! Ix>oks like its too late to change pow. Funny though—dost year 1 made an A in English ami only a C in calculus. Senior! I tats! I’m going to hate this year. I'll have to struggle through, though. But I'm < ly going to l>o a hcdl-uva engineer. 1 haven\ lit (Continued on page 22) .v n . H L