From the Editor (Thursday, 02-26-2015, Gaudium Press) Start of the year, classes will begin. Thousands of questions gather in the head of the students, what will be this year? Will it be easy or difficult? What new subjects will we see? Will we have to see that boring topic again? Will I pass this year? And as time goes on, some these questions will get answered while others will continue in doubt until the end of the course.

This year 2015 we commemorate the bicentenary of St John Bosco’s birth, patron saint of the educators, and also we celebrate the 126th anniversary of his departure to heaven. He dedicated all his entire life to the education of young people to preserve them from the evils that world offered in that distant XIX century. Evils not as terrible as those we sadly see today, two centuries later.

Father Vincent Cimatti, SDB, great apostle of the Salesian order in Japan, makes a list of ten tips for students (both high school and college) to be able to advance in their studies, golden tips, drawn from the entire marvelous collection of the works of the holy educator dedicated to the training of the youth.

Here are the Ten Tips (what is found between parentheses is from the author):

1 Fear God

2 Never waste a minute of your time. And therefore do not find pretexts to miss classes, do not read unrelated books during classes (to which could reasonably be added today tablets, mobile phones, iPads, etc.)

3 The mind must always be occupied with something useful.

In this regard, the saint says: “I cannot help but recommend entertainments which other than being enjoyable can also be useful. Such as the study of history, geography, mechanical and liberal arts, singing, instrumental music, painting and other studies and domestic work […] In days in which you feel doing nothing just start fixing altars, (or rooms), books, or notebooks. You can also have fun in games that serve to relax the spirit and the body. Buy never take part in them without permission (from your parents and teacher) and occasionally raise your mind towards Our Lord, offering such entertainments for His honor and glory.”

4 Take as a rule to never jump to a further point in your studies without having properly understood the previous step. In you daily studies try to keep always something in your memory from the previous day.

5 Do not eat out of the proper time.

6 Prefer the company of those who do study.

7 Take a moderate time for rest, neither too short nor too long.

8 Overcome the difficulties that may occur during the studies. Pray, seek help from teachers, and make every effort. Difficulties improve brainpower and one experiences greater satisfaction when they are overcome: what is learned with difficulty is never forgotten.

9 Occupy yourself exclusively with things study-related. When you think about many things, you don’t take good care of anything. Read with moderation: Do not read other books before you have finished your school work; do not read books without permission from your teachers (or from your parents): they can be useless reading or they may be written in a bad language or inappropriate (this can also be applied today to websites and video games)

10 Have always recourse to the protection of Our Lady “Seat of Wisdom”, invoking her before and after study and especially in difficult times.

Taken from: “Saint John Bosco, educator of youth” by Fr. Vicente Cimatti. Publishing São Paulo Petrus Publishing House, Sao Paulo, 2nd edition, 2013 p. 86 (Free translation without revision from the author)

By Guillermo Torres Bauer