Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Charles Sun, London December 5, 1929
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Charles Sun, London December 5, 1929
Subject
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Charles Sun, London December 5, 1929
Transcription
December 5, 1929
Dear Charlie:
Thank you for your frank and friendly letter of November 23 which reached me this morning and which I have read with the keenest interest.
Naturally I should expect you to be a bit homesick, if not actually a bit bewildered for a few weeks after your arrival in a new country and with a new job on your hands. Don't form final judgments, therefore, until you have become better acquainted with your surroundings and more fully adjusted to the new conditions. Once this has happened, I am sure we can bet down to rock bottom in our discussions and know just where we stand. At present I should feel a bit hesitant to advise you too strongly in one way or the other in connection with your problems, for it is my judgement that these problems will take on somewhat definite shape and hue with the passing of those early days in England.
On the other hand, I am perfectly frank to admit that your attitude towards a college advanced degree -- per se -- is one with which I sympathize to the full. I will go further and say that in my judgment there is a sadly mistaken idea prevalent among a great many of your Chinese friends of the older generation that the securing of college degrees by their children represents something of unique and necessary value in itself and hence is to be eagerly sought. I have noticed this frequently and must admit that I am greatly troubled by it. In this respect, your father only shares an apparently prevalent feeling among his countrymen and so should not be blamed. I am sure, however, that this has been his feeling about Mary, and I doubt very much whether he has ever fully accepted my point of view that a college degree for Mary, who thoroughly disliked the college work and who had no natural ability for this sort of thing, would have been of little if any value, if not indeed harmful. Mary is happy now, and I am sure she is going to be able to give a lot more to the world as a result of her present training than she could possibly have done from mere possession of a college degree.
I mention this, not for a minute for the purpose of taking a position hostile to that of your father or which criticizes in any but the friendliest way his point of view. I am simply taking illustrations which are intimately known to me personally to justify my general contention which relates to the Chinese point of view as a whole rather than to that of any individual.
So just steady down for two or three weeks and see how things shape up for you. If at the end of that time you still feel as you do now, just let me know and I shall be ready and glad to write your father frankly and fully about the problem, giving him my own point of view, and explaining why I feel as I do. In the meantime, I am assuming that what we have written each other on this very personal matter will be regarded by us both as confidential. I want you always to feel that you can come to me with the utmost freedom with your problems and perplexities, and to the very best of my ability, limited though that ability may be, I shall deem it a privilege and a source of real pleasure to be able to help you.
With every best wish for the days and work ahead, and the hope that you will give me the privilege through the medium of your letters of following along with you in your new life and interests, believe me
Ever sincerely yours,
Dear Charlie:
Thank you for your frank and friendly letter of November 23 which reached me this morning and which I have read with the keenest interest.
Naturally I should expect you to be a bit homesick, if not actually a bit bewildered for a few weeks after your arrival in a new country and with a new job on your hands. Don't form final judgments, therefore, until you have become better acquainted with your surroundings and more fully adjusted to the new conditions. Once this has happened, I am sure we can bet down to rock bottom in our discussions and know just where we stand. At present I should feel a bit hesitant to advise you too strongly in one way or the other in connection with your problems, for it is my judgement that these problems will take on somewhat definite shape and hue with the passing of those early days in England.
On the other hand, I am perfectly frank to admit that your attitude towards a college advanced degree -- per se -- is one with which I sympathize to the full. I will go further and say that in my judgment there is a sadly mistaken idea prevalent among a great many of your Chinese friends of the older generation that the securing of college degrees by their children represents something of unique and necessary value in itself and hence is to be eagerly sought. I have noticed this frequently and must admit that I am greatly troubled by it. In this respect, your father only shares an apparently prevalent feeling among his countrymen and so should not be blamed. I am sure, however, that this has been his feeling about Mary, and I doubt very much whether he has ever fully accepted my point of view that a college degree for Mary, who thoroughly disliked the college work and who had no natural ability for this sort of thing, would have been of little if any value, if not indeed harmful. Mary is happy now, and I am sure she is going to be able to give a lot more to the world as a result of her present training than she could possibly have done from mere possession of a college degree.
I mention this, not for a minute for the purpose of taking a position hostile to that of your father or which criticizes in any but the friendliest way his point of view. I am simply taking illustrations which are intimately known to me personally to justify my general contention which relates to the Chinese point of view as a whole rather than to that of any individual.
So just steady down for two or three weeks and see how things shape up for you. If at the end of that time you still feel as you do now, just let me know and I shall be ready and glad to write your father frankly and fully about the problem, giving him my own point of view, and explaining why I feel as I do. In the meantime, I am assuming that what we have written each other on this very personal matter will be regarded by us both as confidential. I want you always to feel that you can come to me with the utmost freedom with your problems and perplexities, and to the very best of my ability, limited though that ability may be, I shall deem it a privilege and a source of real pleasure to be able to help you.
With every best wish for the days and work ahead, and the hope that you will give me the privilege through the medium of your letters of following along with you in your new life and interests, believe me
Ever sincerely yours,
Creator
Alfred E. Stearns
Publisher
Phillips Academy
Date
December 5, 1929
Rights
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
Language
English
Type
Correspondence