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"CRIMSON COMPETITION DEVELOPS CAPABILITY"

MUCH TO GAIN, NOTHING TO LOSE

By Professor ROBERT Bowser, (Special Article for the Crimson)

Is the experience to be gained from running the business end of an undergraduate institution, be it a publication, one of the teams, or the Dramatic Club, of any value beyond the possible glory of having one's name on the letter-head for a few months? Unquestionably it is.

Cites Own Experience

In my own case I was leading a usual Sophomore's life without much thought for the future until about this time of the year when a friend in the Senior class made it clear to me that I was not taking advantage of my opportunities. I am sure that by then and there entering one of the many competitions for managerial positions open to Sophomores, I was able to get much more out of my entire college career and I know that the experience gained in various business positions as an undergraduate has proved to be of great value to me since leaving the University. Though the essential object of going to college is still, and always will be, to obtain an education, yet training in undergraduate activities of this sort can well be a part of that mental discipline which fits a man to be graduated.

No Previous Experience Necessary

The CRIMSON competition offers the chance not only to come in contact with others who have been through the same mill as the present crop of candidates, and made good, but also to develop an ability to meet and deal with business men without embarrassment and with that poise which so many students fresh from preparatory schools lack. Previous experience is not at all necessary. The man is bound to succeed who gets out and is in earnest, makes an analytical study of the problems before him, profits by his errors and comes back stronger as a result. If he goes into business after leaving the University, he will find that his training as an undergraduate manager is of material assistance to him in meeting the new situation in which he finds himself. Though his experience has been on a relatively small scale, nevertheless there is a good deal of similarity between these problems and those of larger magnitude that he will face in after life. Even though a candidate may not finally win election at the end of the competition, he has gained much and lost nothing by the experiment.

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