benjamin eitelgeorge arrived at university park the 6th of september, 1905, with $45.00 on hand. he took the severely plain quarters in the basement of university hall and worked for his room rent and tuition. he did his work well. he went from house to house in search of work for saturdays and afternoons. at first no one seemed to need him. later on, however, there was all the work offered which he could do, in house-cleaning and other work, at twenty cents an hour. he won a prize in that first year and was made head janitor at the college. in the second and third terms he had the care of a cow and a furnace. so the first year closed with a new sense of self-reliance.
in the summer he went to summer school, working for his tuition, and had the care of a cow, pony and lawn for his room and $15.00 per month.
in the fall he was made head janitor at $15.00 per month, with room rent and tuition added. saturdays he had all the outside work he could do. this brought him through the year in comfort and with a still deeper sense of self-reliance. 152
now he was given charge of the church at black hawk, on request of the people there who had heard him preach, and he has kept that service for four years. indeed, the people at black hawk desire to have him appointed as their pastor for life. he now preaches at three places each sunday. of course, this left mr. eitelgeorge no opportunity to get into all sorts of college sports. he took part in all inter-class games, however, where the object in view is the pure fun of the game. he was active in the debating club, and made the honorary debating fraternity, tau kappa alpha. he was conspicuous in all the christian activities of the college. mr. eitelgeorge says he enjoyed college life as much as any student who ever went to college, and that he would not take anything for the experience and satisfaction of having worked his way through college. he was graduated with the a.b. degree in 1911.
this sort of discipline creates men who can do things. if benjamin eitelgeorge were shipwrecked on an island which was peopled by rude savages he would know what to do at once. with a prayer in his heart, and that everlasting smile on his face, he would begin at once at the task of creating a christian nation out of the raw material. and in twenty-five years he would have trade relations with other countries, an ambassador of his government at washington, and a christian college, with the whole faculty from the class of 1911 in the university of denver. 153
john f. sinclair’s story reads like a romance. in february last he made an address at the denver y. m. c. a. to the high school and working boys on “how to work one’s way through college.” from that speech the following facts are taken: mr. sinclair came to university park with mr. eitelgeorge from new mexico in september of 1905. he had $20 in his pocket and plenty of pluck, but with no certain ideas about how he could make a living. he went with eitelgeorge in that first canvass for work, but no one seemed to want them. there were plenty of discouragements at the start, but presently he had more work offered than he could do. he roomed in the basement of university hall and did honest work to earn his tuition and room rent. at that time we had a boys’ club where the fellows kept in prime condition on two dollars a week. for two years he made his way with odd jobs. he “waited on tables, washed dishes, cooked meals, scrubbed floors, washed windows, cleaned furnaces, built fires, chopped wood, beat rugs (the most despised job in the curriculum), cut out weeds, mowed lawns, spaded gardens, painted, calcimined, solicited, sold peanuts and pop-corn, ran errands, etc.”
this sort of discipline for two years made him very self-reliant and resourceful. now he found more permanent sort of work. one year he served as boys’ secretary in the north side y. m. c. a. in another he made good money in charge of a laundry 154 agency. in the following year, his fifth, he did janitor work in the city in a down-town office building. in his sixth year he has made a good living in teaching mechanical drawing at night in a country high school and has sold mail boxes. he cleared several hundred dollars in one summer selling books to the farmers in kansas. sinclair says that some of his friends have done well in carrying papers on regular routes, in reporting for newspapers, in playing musical instruments, in growing mushrooms and in tutoring. he says jobs come to the fellow who sticks and works. each year he has found it easier than the year before, and each year he has had more profitable work than the year before. he wears good clothes and lives in a first-class college room now. sinclair played on the college baseball team four years, and, of course, was in all the interclass games of his class. he made his “d” in baseball. he counted it his first duty to make his living, his next duty to keep a high rank in his classes, and his third duty to get into such athletic sports as were possible to him and necessary to his health.
the popular conception of a student who earns his living is that he is a lank and lean boy who burns the midnight oil in a poor room in an attic. sinclair says he found it profitable and conducive to health to live in an airy room and to sleep seven or eight hours every night. so he has been in superb health every day since he came to college. sinclair believes in concentration and in being wide awake. 155 the rest of this story must be reported in his own words:
“in spite of my participation in athletics and in other activities, and although i’ve worked hard for a living, and even though i’ve never burned the midnight oil and never studied on sunday, yet i’ve made high grades, averaging over ninety. i count myself only an ordinary chap, too. get your lessons day by day and you will find time for other important things.
“i took part in the other activities of the university. i sang in the glee club one year; was a member of the y. m. c. a. cabinet almost every year; was president of the freshman class; acted as treasurer of the debating club; served on the students’ commission; was yell-master last fall; and besides was actively engaged in church work. it is the old story that the more you do the more time you find in which to do. this active school life prepares one for strenuous life in the world. however, there is great danger in overdoing this matter. college life should be secondary to your studies. we go to college to learn and we must not sacrifice our mental and spiritual training for minor things. a man should not neglect his social training, either, but this, too, is a secondary matter.
“the working student is treated as a social equal by most people in most colleges. i have never been snubbed. on the contrary, i have become a member of one of the national fraternities; i have dined 156 with a professor’s family often; when i was janitor in the city the people called me mr. sinclair and not mr. janitor; i was welcome company to the best girls in college. a working student is highly respected if he conducts himself as a gentleman should.
“in conclusion i would offer these suggestions: if you have a strong desire to secure an education, to serve the world efficiently, and are free from ill health and family encumbrances, go to some educational institution with a determination to stick it out. have faith in yourself, in your fellow-men, and in god. if you are a christian your struggle will not be so hard. i cannot give too much weight to my religion as a factor in making my college work successful and my life happy. i doubt whether i could have withstood without my faith in god.”
