Page 91 - TAGR-Companion Text

SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE 91
165 definite programme of specialized study makes up to some extent, for the wasted
166 opportunity when knowledge was available without cost. Correspondence
167 schools are highly organized business institutions. Their tuition fees are so low
168 that they are forced to insist upon prompt payments. Being asked to pay,
169 whether the student makes good grades or poor, has the effect of causing one to
170 follow through with the course when he would otherwise drop it. The
171 correspondence schools have not stressed this point sufficiently, for the truth is
172 that their collection departments constitute the very finest sort of training on
173 DECISION, PROMPTNESS, ACTION and THE HABIT OF FINISHING
174 THAT WHICH ONE BEGINS.
175 I learned this from experience, more than twenty-five years ago. I enrolled for a
176 home study course in Advertising. After completing eight or ten lessons I
177 stopped studying, but the school did not stop sending me bills. Moreover, it
178 insisted upon payment, whether I kept up my studies or not. I decided that if I
179 had to pay for the course (which I had legally obligated myself to do), I should
180 complete the lessons and get my money's worth. I felt, at the time, that the
181 collection system of the school was somewhat too well organized, but I learned
182 later in life that it was a valuable part of my training for which no charge had
183 been made. Being forced to pay, I went ahead and completed the course. Later in
184 life I discovered that the efficient collection system of that school had been
185 worth much in the form of money earned, because of the training in advertising I
186 had so reluctantly taken.
187 We have in this country what is said to be the greatest public school system in
188 the world. We have invested fabulous sums for fine buildings, we have provided
189 convenient transportation for children living in the rural districts, so they may
190 attend the best schools, but there is one astounding weakness to this marvelous
191 system – IT IS FREE! One of the strange things about human beings is that they
192 value only that which has a price. The free schools of America, and the free
193 public libraries, do not impress people because they are free. This is the major
194 reason why so many people find it necessary to acquire additional training after
195 they quit school and go to work. It is also one of the major reasons why