and the tops were so loose that the shoes almost dropped off my feet as I walked. I was
embarrassed to associate with the other students, so I sat in my room alone and
studied. The deepest desire of my life was to be able to buy some store clothes that fit
me, clothes that I was not ashamed of.
Shortly after that, four events happened that helped me to overcome my worries and my
feeling of inferiority. One of these events gave me courage and hope and confidence
and completely changed all the rest of my life. I'll describe these events briefly:
First: After attending this normal school for only eight weeks, I took an examination and
was given a third-grade certificate to teach in the country public schools. To be sure, this
certificate was good for only six months, but it was fleeting evidence that somebody had
faith in me-the first evidence of faith that I ever had from anyone except my mother.
Second: A country school board at a place called Happy Hollow hired me to teach at a
salary of two dollars per day, or forty dollars per month. Here was even more evidence
of somebody's faith in me.
Third: As soon as I got my first cheque I bought some store clothes-clothes that I wasn't
ashamed to wear. If someone gave me a million dollars now, it wouldn't thrill me half as
much as that first suit of store clothes for which I paid only a few dollars.
Fourth: The real turning point in my life, the first great victory in my struggle against
embarrassment and inferiority occurred at the Putnam County Fair held annually in
Bain-bridge, Indiana. My mother had urged me to enter a public-speaking contest that
was to be held at the fair. To me, the very idea seemed fantastic. I didn't have the
courage to talk even to one person-let alone a crowd. But my mother's faith in me was
almost pathetic. She dreamed great dreams for my future. She was living her own life
over in her son. Her faith inspired me to enter the contest. I chose for my subject about
the last thing in the world that I was qualified to talk on: "The Fine and Liberal Arts of
America". Frankly, when I began to prepare a speech I didn't know what the liberal arts
were, but it didn't matter much because my audience didn't know, either.
I memorised my flowery talk and rehearsed it to the trees and cows a hundred times. I
was so eager to make a good showing for my mother's sake that I must have spoken
with emotion. At any rate, I was awarded the first prize. I was astounded at what
happened. A cheer went up from the crowd. The very boys who had once ridiculed me
and poked fun at me and called me hatchet-faced now slapped me on the back and
said: "I knew you could do it, Elmer." My mother put her arms around me and sobbed.
As I look back in retrospect, I can see that winning that speaking contest was the turning
point of my life. The local newspapers ran an article about me on the front page and
prophesied great things for my future. Winning that contest put me on the map locally
and gave me prestige, and, what is far more important, it multiplied my confidence a
hundredfold. I now realise that if I had not won that contest, I probably would never have
become a member of the United States Senate, for it lifted my sights, widened my
horizons, and made me realise that I had latent abilities that I never dreamed I
possessed. Most important, however, was the fact that the first prize in the oratorical
contest was a year's scholarship in the Central Normal College.
I hungered now for more education. So, during the next few years-from 1896 to 1900-I
divided my time between teaching and studying. In order to pay my expenses at De
Pauw University, I waited on tables, looked after furnaces, mowed lawns, kept books,
worked in the wheat and cornfields during the summer, and hauled gravel on a public
road-construction job.