"

When the child finishes the required curriculum of the residential
school, and goes forth to his place in the world, he is often unprepared
for the struggle, unable to adjust himself to the altered conditions,
lacking in patience, perseverance and pluck; the "three P's" of which
Clarence Hawkes so often speaks, and without which he claims no blind
person can successfully overcome his handicap. The need for this
preparation is better known to a blind teacher or superintendent, and
for that reason, if for no other, his presence in the school is
desirable. He knows the value of higher education to the blind, and he
will urge the pupils to fit themselves for college, reminding them that
blindness is a physical, not a mental, handicap. And who is better
qualified to fire the youthful mind, to strengthen the wavering
ambition, and arouse the latent enthusiasm, than one who has made the
effort, has fought the fight, and won gloriously!

Although Dr. Warring Wilkinson, who was Superintendent of the California
School for the Blind for over forty years, and his brother Charles, who
taught for the same period--although neither of these men was blind,
they were true teachers and college men, and understood the value of
scholastic attainment to the blind. As far back as I can remember, they
urged us all to prepare for college, and, to stimulate this desire, they
kept in close touch with the work of the university, and often brought
essays written by the advanced students, to encourage us in our literary
efforts, assuring us with a little practice we could write as well.
Often, too, they would take classes to hear a lecture on some subject
under discussion, thus forging the first link between the school and the
university, in whose shadow our young lives were spent. In preparing us
for competition with seeing students, Mr. Charles Wilkinson used to say:
"never ask for quarter because of your blindness. Do your work so well
that people will say not, 'how wonderful this is considering your
affliction,' but 'how perfect in spite of it!'" This thought has
remained constantly with me, strengthening and encouraging me, enabling
me to overcome difficulties that would otherwise have been impossible to
surmount.

It is of vital importance that the blind should have pleasant,
well-modulated voices, and for this reason elocution should be included
in the course of study. In recent years a number of blind students in
eastern schools have b