Page:The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble (1924).pdf/184

 "My things are at the apartment, but I couldn't live there alone, could I?"

"Would you want to?"

"It would be lonely. What do you think I ought to do?"

"How do the students at the university find rooms?" This question was designed to open the way for a new plan.

"There is a registry of houses at the Dean's office, and sometimes they answer advertisements in the newspapers."

The social worker purposely offered no suggestion, and the young man added, "I suppose I could go to see the Dean."

Having visited a number of possible living places, he returned. He wanted the social worker to make a choice for him. She questioned him about the advantages and disadvantages of each house, but when he asked her where she would go, if she were in his place, she put the responsibility upon him. "You're the only person who can decide where you want to live," she told him.

Finally, he made the choice, uncertainly, and tentatively, but nevertheless his own. It was a wise selection, and the social worker added to his assurance by telling him so.