Ann Arbor High School - Omega Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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CZIFLQQ 65f:.QP1U- i.1,..l.l-- BY G ERTRUDE SUNDERLAND. iii- And what is so rare as a day in June ? Then, if ever, come perfect days. Please don't anyone say chestnuts! In the iirstplace, using slang is such a very unpraisevvorthy thing in young people, hardly to be overlooked even in Seniors, and in the second place, haveu't you been told nearly every day of your lives that you shouldn't tire of beautiful things but should enjoy them more and more each time you hear them? According to that, we certainly ought to be passionately fond of this passage by this time, for most of us had heard it dozens of times before ever we entered the High School, and after We became students in that respected institution did Wenot hear it quoted by each successive class of Sophomores, including our own, in a manner calculated to inspire love of the passage in every breast ? Surely I could not have chosen a text more familiar and dear to our hearts than this. ' On just such a lovely June day as Lowell describes, I had taken a book Qwho shall say it Wasn't 'C The Vision of Sir Laun- fal ?j and gone out by myself to read and muse under the shade of a favorite old tree. It was such a beautiful day that the temptation to be lazy and give myself up to enjoying the soft air, the songs of the birds and insects, and all the other pleasures of the early summer time, soon induced me to lay down my book and stretch myself out under the shade of the tree to gaze at the sky and indulge in day dreams. And it fell -out in the course of events that my thoughts began running .over the various delightful June days I had enjoyed since I .became a learned High School student, How I felt I had reached the Pisgah of all my longings

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Wax greater, greater, till before him stood! A wide expanse of billowy ripened grain His soul was awed to see a thing so great- That from these little lifeless grains of wheat So great a Held of golden grain should growg Then whispering softly to himself these words,. Ah! N ow, indeed, is real Wisdom mine, He gat him up and buckling on his helm He hasted till he stood before therking And said- Oh, King, my Father most beloved! Now have I found indeed the one I sought. Directed by the gods' own messenger, I found her where I ne'er had thought she- dwelt.. I learned from ants the ways of industry And how to govern well and peacefully. I've seen the wondrous miracle of growth And learned the kindly lessons Nature gives: Till now I feel that Wisdom is my friend. -Then from his royal seat the old king stept, And up the golden stairs his son was led , And on his head was placed the regal crown. -Oh, ye who love in Wisdom's hallsto walk Have not ye ever found this passing true, To him who humbly sits at Wisdom's feet She graciously each day reveals herself In some new wonder, never seen before, In some new thought that ne'er had known his mind In new seen beauty or in new felt love Until his soul is broadened byher thoughts And he possesses treasure more than gold For he is Wisdom's patient learning son.

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D when the final day in June came, in each of those past three years, when I could say good-bye to those dreary old school- rooms for awhi1e'and look forward to a two months' life of Q lounging. For notwithstanding what our respected teachers say regularly before every vacation, that rest is change and not idleness, it must nevertheless remain a fact that a student ap- preciates the thought of a good long time when she will be per- mitted to lounge to her l1eart's content Q I can only speak from experience of the feminine body of students, perhaps the mas- culine may be above such reprehensible pleasuresj. Then all the delightful picnic parties that so many of us can remember withlsuch pleasure, some of them perhaps like a cer- tain sleigh-ride party weknow of, when the conveyances would not come for all the expectation and- longing of the impatient watchers! p. - i Q Then there is one day in June not so fvcryvmany years ago which I remember well. Oh' dear, it makes me hot now to think of it,-how we toiled over plants and evergreen and drapery, and struggled -with surprising energy, considering the weathe1', against one boyis persistent 'purpose to get us to begin work at half-past seven olclock in the morning! Yes, even the recollec- tions of those tasks are almost. too laborious for a June day. I As I went on dreaming away in this fashion my thoughts got farther and farther from my conscious control, and I suppose I nearly went to sleep, It crept into my mind that there was one day in June to come. which would surpass every other in impor- tance, and to which very many beside 'myself were looking for- ward with eagerexpectationg and slowly a vision ofhthat day and its occurrences appeared to me. - ' ae ae ae as ek It isnthe all-important morning. A hundred young people of a 'dignified and imposing demeanor are assembled in Mr. Clark's room' on the first floor of the High School building. Young gentlemen in new black suits and irreproachable neck- ties talk nervously among each other or carry on short conver- sations in a decidedly self-conscious manner with members of the feminine 'side of the house. Young ladies in soft white muslin gowns, dainty gloves and fa variety of flowers, are admir- ing each other in a high state of satisfaction. Apart from the general throng, in various attitudes of studious thoughtfulness