THE WAY ALWAYS OPEN

C. M. WALTERS, A.B., PH.B., M.A., M.D.

After attending the Burlington High School one year and spending all the money I had except one dollar, I decided¹ to take a business course in Elon College. I arranged with Dr. J. U. Newman, Dean of the Faculty², to get my tuition, room rent, fuel, and light for ringing the College bell. I also collected and distributed laundry to help pay my expenses. With the money collected in this way and from doing other small jobs about the College, I succeeded in paying all my expenses for the first five months except $65. I secured my diploma in the Business Course in June, 1900.

Realizing that my preparation in English was not sufficient for me to command the best positions in the business world, I decided to take the regular college course. So in September, 1900, my brother and I organized the first boarding Club at Elon College. I was elected manager to collect for board, buy all provisions, hire a cook, and have general oversight³ of the Club, all for the small salary of one dollar a week. I still held my job as laundry agent, but I gave up my position as bell boy for the College. By sweeping⁴, dusting, lighting⁵, and building fires in the 168 Psiphelian Society Hall I made twenty-five cents a week. I was also janitor⁶ for the Philologian⁷ Society part of the time at the same salary, and two years later when the acetylene gas lights took the place of the old oil lamps in the Society Halls, I had charge of the gas generator⁸, which paid one dollar a month. I also made stretchers for the art room and did other small jobs of carpenter work, cut wood, and did most any little job I could get to do to make money. Of course I didn’t have any time for play, but I worked enough to get plenty of exercise and graduated in four years with high honor. I gave notes for my tuition except for the last year. I was laboratory director during my senior year, which paid my tuition.

From the time I was a small boy in the public school, too young to study Physiology⁹, when the class recited I would stop studying and listen to them and long for the time to come when I could study medicine. This dream was realized in the fall of 1904 when I entered the University of North Carolina, and began the four years of hard work which was required to get my M.D. It was during the Christmas examinations of this year that my eyes failed, due partly to using a microscope too much, besides the hard strain of late study hours. I could not see how to read, but I managed to get some one to read for me and I passed my examinations. During my second year at Chapel¹⁰ Hill, I secured boarders, collected for board, and kept books for a regular boarding 169 house to help pay my board. I also acted as laundry agent, managed a pressing club, and taught English and Latin to medical students who did not have sufficient preparation in these branches to study medicine.

My last years in the medical course were spent at the University of Maryland. The first year I distributed tickets and posters for the City Y. M. C. A. meetings during my spare hours, for which work I received $2.50 a week. There was so much walking in this I would be so tired at night that I could not study, so I soon gave it up and devoted¹¹ all my time to my books. I secured an appointment as medical assistant in the hospital (which was awarded to the best students in the class), for my senior year. Owing to the difficulty we had in securing good board near the hospital my class mates persuaded me to organize another boarding Club, which I managed for a few months; but because my hospital work required so much time, I had to turn it over to someone else. I graduated with the class of 1908 from the University of Maryland and passed the State Board examination in June of the same year, and located at union Ridge¹², N. C., where I have enjoyed a very lucrative¹³ practice. I have been asked to write this for the benefit of other young men who are working their way through school. While it has been a hard struggle, and I have seen a few dark days when it seemed that I would have to give up for want of means to go forward; still 170 when the time came that I had to have money, I always found some way to make it or some friend kind enough to lend it to me. So my college career has been a very pleasant one.

union Ridge, N. C.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

3 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

4 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 janitor   

n.看门人，管门人

参考例句：

• The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
• The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

7 philologian   

n.语言学家

参考例句：

8 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

9 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

10 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

11 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

12 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

13 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。