ears he has talked to me about becoming a great lawyer; he
spent thousands of dollars in sending me through high school, college and
law school; he has given me years of post-graduate work in law. I have now
been trying to practice law for two years and have made a complete failure
of it. Yet, so intense is his desire that I shall realize his ambition,
that he is willing to finance me, in the hope that, eventually, I may be
able to succeed in the practice of law. And yet I hate it. I hate it so
that it seems to me I cannot drive myself ever to enter a law office for
another day."

POOR JUDGMENT OF TEACHERS

When bad judgment and prejudice of parents do not interfere with a child's
development and his selection of a vocation, he is often turned into wrong
channels by the bad judgment of his teacher or teachers. It is natural for
many teachers to try to influence their favorite pupils to enter the
teaching profession in the same special branch to which the teachers
themselves are attached. We once knew a professor of Latin who was an
enthusiast on the subject. As the result of his influence, many of his
students became teachers of Latin. Teachers, like parents, also frequently
fail to see the indications of aptitude where it is very great.

Like parents, teachers also are oftentimes ignorant of the requirements of
work. They are frequently narrow in their training and experience, and
therefore do not understand much about practical life, practical work,
and practical requirements. Many teachers, even college professors, seem
to be obsessed with the idea that a student who learns a subject easily
will be successful in making a practical application of it. Not long ago a
student in engineering in one of our most prominent universities came to
us for consultation. He told us that his professors all agreed that he was
well fitted to succeed as an engineer. He, however, had no liking for the
profession and did not believe that he would either enjoy it or be
successful in it. Our observations confirmed his opinions. It turned out
that his instructors thought him qualified for engineering merely from the
fact that he learned easily the theoretical principles underlying the
practice.

ECONOMIC NECESSITY

Perhaps one of the most potent causes of misfits in vocation is economic
necessity. The time comes in the life of most boys when they must earn
their own living or, perhaps, help support the parental family. In such a
case,