fred i. patrick
when a boy at the age of sixteen, i lived with my father on a very poor, rocky, stumpy farm near joplin, mo. my education and financial condition were very limited. i attended the country graded school until graduation. one day as i was toiling among the stumps on our little farm, it came into my mind, “what good am i doing here, and what good might i do had i the opportunity?” it was only a few weeks before i received a circular letter from the joplin business college, offering me the opportunity of attending this school and of making my expenses while there. i had only $25 and to me the task seemed hard and the burden heavy; but within there was a burning desire for something better, something more elevating than the companions with whom i had associated.
on the 19th day of november, 1909, i entered the joplin business college. i enrolled and graduated in the bookkeeping, stenographic, and penmanship departments within a period of two years. i was compelled to earn entirely my board, room, and clothing while i was attending school; and, in order to do this, i waited on tables in restaurants, mowed 250 lawns on saturdays during the summer, did janitor’s work at the business college, was janitor at the presbyterian church, read gas meters for the joplin gas company, and worked in a shoe store on saturday nights.
after graduating, september 1, 1911, i was chosen as assistant secretary of the y. m. c. a., pittsburg, kansas. i had been with the y. m. c. a. only one year when i concluded that my work in that department was limited, and that i needed more education in order to be of service to my fellow-men. the boys’ secretary assisted me in getting the position as private secretary to dr. campbell, president of cooper college, which i am now attending. in this way i am able to make my expenses and carry regular college work at the same time.
during the summer months i travel as field representative for the pittsburg business college. in this way i make enough to buy my clothing and pay incidental expenses during the winter.
every man who makes his way for three or four years in a college of any kind realizes in a full measure the value of his time and money. he learns to have confidence in himself; he learns to be more dependent upon himself; and in many ways he learns the ways of the world.
many times during my business college career i went without meals in order that i might have enough money to meet the other expenses of the 251 month. my tuition was paid, only as i could make enough over my board and room to make payments on it.
my desire is to become a y. m. c. a. secretary, and it is to this end that i am working. i hope to attain this blessing by making my own way through college.
cooper college, sterling, kansas.
