Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 63.djvu/315

Rh its guidance. The nearer the teacher, the better the work. The value of teachers grows less as the square of their distance increases. If the college course is a secondary matter, with inferior teachers talking down to their students lessons prescribed because the faculty cares too little for the individual man to adapt its courses to his needs, an atmosphere of trifling, or no atmosphere at all, the sooner the student gets into something real, the better. A good university may develop in a great city, a good college can not, because teachers and students are all too far apart.

In this matter the college degree is only an incident. It is the badge of admission to the roll of alumni, a certificate of good fellowship, which always means a little and may imply a great deal. But the degree is only one of the toys of our educational babyhood, as hoods and gowns represent educational bib and tucker. Don't go out of your way to take a degree. Don't miss it because you are in too great a hurry. For the highest professional success, you can afford to take your time. It takes more provision for a cruise to the Cape of Good Hope than for a trip to the Isle of Dogs.