professor wm. f. h. wentzel, b.s., m.s.
i was born in a humble home in the backwoods of berks county, pennsylvania. i had few companions outside of school hours in the little country school where we studied in english and played in german. i had no one of intimate acquaintance who had any appreciation of higher education or of professional life. the awakening of a moderate ambition was largely due to the influence of a devoted mother and an inspiring teacher.
with three months’ cramming in a summer normal, i changed from a student to a teacher in the little red school house. during the long vacations that followed i attended perkiomen seminary, where i was graduated in 1902. when i passed my twenty-fifth birthday i had given eight years of service to our schools at a salary of $238 per year. i had paid for my preparatory education and had saved $200. at this time i also had signed an anti-saloon petition which efficiently barred me from further employment in the same school. this predicament put me to thinking what would be the next best step. my prep. school was an excellent eye-opener for college possibilities for poor boys, yet 178 i never before realized what it could mean to me. however, in one month after my downfall i was making my exodus to the pennsylvania state college. i was without a friend that could give me advice or direct me to means by which a young man might work his way. my $200 was dwindling to a small margin as i got my equipment of books, uniform, instruments, fees, board, room, etc. i soon hailed an opportunity to husk corn on saturdays.
time progressed slowly, work became scarce, football enthusiasm rose to a high pitch. most of the boys were planning a trip to see our team face its foremost rival of the season. it seemed evident that a three to five dollar outlay on such a trip could not include me. there were more meetings, music, yells, and speeches; and the fellow who refused to go either had poor spirit or he felt real mean. i was one of those who felt mean. so did my room-mate. we raised a question and forth came the solution. i suggested that we go at the lowest possible outlay. on the morning of the game when the band led the march to the depot we were in line. the enthusiasm and the victory seemed to be fully worth the price. when the noon hour arrived and the boys resorted to the hotels, chum and i sauntered down along the railroad, secured a box of crackers, and with some dried beef that i had brought from home, we made the noon-day meal. on our return to college we proceeded to work out the balance of the program: that was to 179 board ourselves until we had saved the amount. with a tin tomato can hung above our student lamp as a cooking outfit we proceeded with our experiment in domestic science from thanksgiving to christmas. we were so elated with the success and the economy that we returned with well packed trunks after christmas and continued the experiment until commencement week, when we both secured positions as waiters. this scheme made a nice saving, as it cost us less than $1.25 per week each for our board. i waited on tables for my board for the remaining three years of my college course.
the first year closed with my financial rating $200 less than it was at the opening of the school year. it was the close of my hardest year. with my fragmentary preparation and several entrance conditions i found it necessary to work to the limit of my ability, mentally and physically.
i adapted my summer vacation to my needs and divided my time between farm work and canvassing for the “wearever” aluminum cooking utensil company. i saved enough to equip myself with clothing, books, etc., to start my next school year.
i started the work without definite plans for the finances of the year. i gave some assistance to a student agent selling drawing instruments. this line of work put me in touch with the commercial possibilities for a student to earn his way. i noted the pennant agent, the pin agent, the clothing agent, the laundry agent, etc. yet was i too sensitive of 180 my backwoods instincts to move myself from the outside of this field to a top notch competitor with upper class agents. various college activities seemed to prevail upon my time and i could not curb that inner desire to be active along these lines when the finance seemed to be within my control. however, in my junior year i accepted partnership in the drawing instrument business which netted me a considerable income for the opening week of the school year. in my senior year i made my only real commercial venture. i gave security for my stock and took $1,000 worth of instruments on the field. i secured a store room where i had a good window display, took in second-hand uniforms, which i sold on commission, and, too, late in my college career, i learned the commercial possibilities open to the student who will do things in a business way. i gave students from 20 per cent. to 40 per cent. discount on instruments and yet cleared enough in two weeks to aid me greatly in my senior year.
amongst other means of support i shall mention a few of a general type. i was chapel monitor for over two years which was worth one dollar per week. for two years i was marshal in my lodging house, which reduced my room rent. i worked in the library and took advantage of many minor opportunities. my summer vacations were spent similarly to the first one. throughout the course i always was within a margin of the means at my command. 181
you will note that my financial career at college was rather promiscuous, without plan or system. i therefore hope to make this sketch doubly helpful by adding a discussion on “advice” and another on “college activities.”
a little experience in earning, saving, and learning the value of a dollar before entering college never comes amiss. however, the fellow who puts off college entrance because he enjoys fair earnings, or because he wishes to accumulate a comfortable sum, usually never gets there. don’t expect too much in earning ability during your first term at college. it is far more important to make a good start intellectually, as that is the paramount business in college attendance. it is one of the sad things to see a young man give up in discouragement because he failed to place emphasis on application to study. therefore, when entering college, plan to give the first few months to the college business without direct interference by any other obligations or diversions.
plans for the first year’s finance might include an attempt to locate friends at college who might aid in finding a waitership or some other work that does not break directly. such work at the start should not be discouraging, as those places naturally belong to older students who have worked up to the situation. it is well to recognize that others have rights and needs similar to your own. again to start, as one who is given a preference by pull, is not the most 182 agreeable situation. another first year plan is the securing of agency privileges from some good firm, let’s say for college jewelry. several weeks before christmas vacation, when your work is well in hand and your acquaintance with classmates established, first canvass your classmates, then other students, for the holiday orders. during one week it is possible to do your studying while others play and your canvassing while others study. in a large college such a canvass may net $100 profit. as business acquaintance and reputation grows, other lines can be added and much trade comes with limited effort.
i look upon the tutoring opportunity as one of the errors of my college efforts. i mean by this, my neglect to give it any attention. my advice to a young man is: work up your class standing from the beginning, especially in subjects where others are wont to fall. it may take excess time at first, but it makes easy sailing later, and the more you earn the stronger you become as a student; a fact which is usually to the contrary in other financial means at a student’s command. it is also rather lucrative as students make it net from 50 cents to $5 and $10 or more per hour.
vacation specialties are a boon to many a student canvasser. it is not undesirable for any student to try his hand in dealing with people of various types. however, it is remarkable how many students fail in successful canvassing. the nervous strain on the fellow that fails, while he feels the waste of much 183 needed time and money, is great and has a tendency to crush out even the little ambition that remains. vacation work should be rest from mental strain, it should be open air work, and it should be in a measure manual. it is hoped that the reader will note that money is not the only nor even the first consideration in a wisely planned effort to work his way through college.
“college activities” may seem an oddity in this discussion. i pity the student who thinks because he is poor he should get all and give nothing. i had a college debt of $400 when i finished, but the energy put into non-required college activities would have canceled the debt several times.
for four years i served on the intercollegiate debating team, during which time my alma mater rose from last place to first in the league. for two years i was a member of my class debating team. in my junior year i served as editor-in-chief of the college annual published by the class. at the close of that same year i took first place in the junior oratorical contest. in religious work i had charge of bible groups for three years, was treasurer of the y. m. c. a. in my junior year and president in my senior year. at the close of my course i was elected a member of “phi kappa phi,” and was chosen valedictorian of my class.
catch my creed. there is no harm in a little college debt. be willing to give as well as desirous to receive. if you are in want make an honest effort 184 to find the means necessary, but thereafter place your college above the dollar and the good time. there is nothing seriously wrong with the fellow who accumulates a thousand above expenses during a college course, but if he fails to give a reasonable portion of his energy to the higher purposes of his alma mater, the fruit of his work is chaff rather than grain.
california, penn.
