Fireside Correspondence School by W. E. Howell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 21, 1911

Fireside Correspondence School

By W. E. Howell

ALREADY our mail is beginning to swell with applications for enrolment on October 2, our third annual opening. In nearly every request for information there is a note of gratitude for an organized means of studying at home. What is still better, there is also an expressed determination to make use of the opportunity this school affords, to improve in educational efficiency under the direction of skilled instructors who love their work.

Some say, in substance, “I am so busy doing the work of the Lord I have no time for study, even at home.” Is this not a wrong attitude to assume toward progressive mind development? Has not your experience in the Lord’s work convinced you that your educational attainments are not equal to your needs? I can not believe that it is putting it too strongly to say that it is pleasing to the Lord, whatever your work, for you to set aside at least one hour a day for self-improvement by systematic study. You are then constantly gaining in efficiency. Try it. It is not so difficult to do as it looks. Count that hour as definite an appointment as any other. Look upon this time as consecrated to the Lord for a definite purpose, as time to be kept inviolate. If necessary, reduce the amount of your newspaper reading. Spend less time in merely “chatting.” Eliminate neighborhood gossip. Esteem every spare moment precious.

Besides this, you need a change in the daily round. A teacher or preacher who is constantly giving out, especially enjoys a little daily filling in. The secretary, the stenographer, the bookkeeper, after hours of routine work, will find pleasure in the mental diversion of progressive study. The farmer or mechanic or housekeeper, whose occupation is largely physical, is greatly benefited by a proper amount of mental exercise daily in the gathering of knowledge. Young people are always looking forward to something better. Many of our students are entering a residence school this fall with their credits obtained through correspondence study. What are you looking forward to another year, young man, young woman?

Few have the faculty of setting themselves to work in regular daily reading or study. Have you? We can help you on this point. Address the school or the principal at Takoma Park, D. C.

W. E. HOWELL, Principal.