hitherto unknown facts, but to obtain practice in scientific procedure
and to learn how to seek knowledge by yourself. The curriculum and the
faculty are the means, but you yourself are the agent in the
educational process. No matter how good the curriculum or how renowned
the faculty, you cannot be educated without the most vigorous efforts
on your part. Banish the thought that you are here to have knowledge
"pumped into" you. To acquire an education you must establish and
maintain not a passive attitude but an active attitude. When you go to
the gymnasium to build up a good physique, the physical director does
not tell you to hold yourself limp and passive while he pumps your arms
and legs up and down. Rather he urges you to put forth effort, to exert
yourself until you are tired. Only by so doing can you develop physical
power. This principle holds true of mental development. Learning is not
a process of passive "soaking-in." It is a matter of vigorous effort,
and the harder you work the more powerful you become. In securing a
college education you are your own master.

In the development of physical prowess you are well aware of the
importance of doing everything in "good form." In such sports as
swimming and hurdling, speed and grace depend primarily upon it. The
same principle holds true in the development of the mind. The most
serviceable mind is that which accomplishes results in the shortest
time and with least waste motion. Take every precaution, therefore, to
rid yourself of all superfluous and impeding methods.

Strive for the development of good form in study. Especially is this
necessary at the start. Now is the time when you are laying the
foundations for your mental achievements in college. Keep a sharp
lookout, then, at every point, to see that you build into the
foundation only those materials and that workmanship which will support