This, I confess, was
another pretty hard blow to me. I will not say that I became
discouraged, for as I now look back over my life I do not recall that
I ever became discouraged over anything that I set out to accomplish.
I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I
never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always
ready to explain why one cannot succeed. I determined to face the
situation just as it was. At the end of the week I went to the
treasurer of the Hampton Institute, General J.F.B. Marshall, and told
him frankly my condition. To my gratification he told me that I could
reenter the institution, and that he would trust me to pay the debt
when I could. During the second year I continued to work as a
janitor.
The education that I received at Hampton out of the text-books was
but a small part of what I learned there. One of the things that
impressed itself upon me deeply, the second year, was the
unselfishness of the teachers. It was hard for me to understand how
any individuals could bring themselves to the point where they could
be so happy in working for others. Before the end of the year, I
think I began learning that those who are happiest are those who do
the most for others. This lesson I have tried to carry with me ever
since.
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