Department of Vocations and Industries: IX, Specializations in Vocations

Department of Vocations and Industries BY CLAUDE RICHARDS IX — Specializations in Vocations The following letter is addressed to a young man who has manifested some interest in the subject of choosing a vocation; and believing that the principles expounded and the advice given are applicable to very many, and in fact all, of our young men, the letter is printed in this department of Mutual Improvement work. We commend the advice it contains to the consideration of all our workers and to all our young men : Dear Friend: We are in receipt of your recent and esteemed letter in relation to the choosing of a vocation. Allow us to congratulate you upon your ambition to become a specialist. It is a step in the right direction. For the age in which you live and expect to work is fast becoming pre-eminently the age of specialization. This has not long been the case, and consequently there are perhaps comparatively few among us today that fully appreciate the necessity for specializing. It was only a few years ago when conditions were quite different, especially in this western country. Our Utah Pioneers were confronted with scenes and conditions very unlike those that surround us. You will remember that they had been driven from established cities and had decided to come to a wild region of undeveloped resources. Here they determined to make a commonwealth of their own — one that their children and their children's children could enjoy. The necessities of that strenuous day required that each builder of that commonwealth be able to do many and diverse things to promote the welfare of his people. Every man answered with willingness the call of those times, and never perhaps in history did men work with greater diligence to meet the requirements made of them than did these splendid forefathers and benefactors of ours. But now you will readily see that conditions are changed,— our commonwealth is established, and a half a century has been added to the age and development of the work. The demand for technical knowledge has increased to the extent that the jack-of-all-trades has been replaced by the specialist. So that now the question asked, in most parts of the civilized world, of a man who seeks a livelihood, is not "How many things can you do moderately well?" but rather "What one thing can you do as well as or better than anybody else?" It is in this present chapter of the world's history that we are living and called upon to act and to be useful. And it is under these conditions that a young man nowadays must make his start in life. And since things are so changed as compared with a few years ago and life has become so much more complex that it is no longer a matter of simple and routime process to get a start in life, does it not

VOCATIONS AND INDUSTRIES 823 behoove every young man to study the situation with earnestness and to decide at an early date upon his professional career? You have begun this important study of choosing a vocation, and it is for this reason that we consider you are fortunate and that we desire to congratulate you. By "professional career" we do not consider that your choice will be limited to the professions of law, medicine, and the like, but rather that you and our young men generally may select any approved field of action whatsoever, whether in agriculture, in industrial lines, or in any other line in which you propose to become a genuine expert. Please do not overlook this important item of excelling in whatsoever line of work you may select. You cannot afford to spend the best years of your life in performing second-class service. Why should we who are the rightful heirs to character and intelligence such as our worthy ancestors possessed be content with gaining only second place? Do you not think it is reasonable for us to believe in the highest destiny for our western people? And is it not consistent to suppose that God intended that the people of this great inter-mountain region should be genuine leaders and not mere followers in the great onward strides of progress? Where is the western boy who would concede first place to any other boy in the world today? And where can you find the youth in our midst who does not believe that this western people are a great people? Then, to make good our claims and beliefs, must not our western boys in your opinion, set their aims high and lay plans that will place them in the foremost ranks of every worthy profession? We trust that you will continue your investigation of vocations, and that you will meet with success in finding your most profitable life's work. We shall be glad to hear from you further in reference to other phases of the pleasant and important task that you have undertaken and to study with you some problems encountered. With best wishes for your success, we remain Sincerely yours, Claude Richards For Com. on Vocations and Industries. The Organ's Voice. Solemn, wondrous, grand, the chord arose, Filling the silence of the day with harmony, The notes from out the organ's throat Now high, now pulsing low, Told o'er again that wondrous tale in melody. A wanderer paused to listen, slowly turned And made his way within the sacred hall. Enraptured sat he then and listened To the voice of music like an angel's call. And as the music filled that rounded dome A thousand thoughts flashed through the wanderer's mind; He seemed to hear the voice of One as from afar Calling, pleading, telling of a love divine. Arthur Lee. SALT LAKE CITY