Auburn Adventist Academy - Rainier Vista Yearbook (Auburn, WA)

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President’s Address ( Continued ) for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. Someone has defined education as “the har¬ monious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers.” It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world, and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come. We have heard of the great teachers of the world, men of giant intellect, men whose utterances have stimulated thought and opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these men have been honored as guides and benefactors of their race; but there is One who stands higher than they; One from whom they have received the knowledge which they possess. It is this One we wish to imitate, this One whom we are taking for a pattern, this One who has inspired us with the desire to climb, to be successful in this world, that we may truly represent Him. Tt is He of whom it has been said: “Out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” “Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children.” So, to the student, there is presented a path of continued pro¬ gress. He has an object to achieve, a standard to at¬ tain, that includes everything good, pure, and elevat¬ ing. A desire is awakened in each one of us to reach God’s ideal, to obtain an education that cannot be completed in this life, but that will be continued in the life to come; an education that secures to the successful student his passport from this preparatory school of earth to the school above. There is no way of telling the future but by the past; and, judging by the past, what has been the result of taking God and a Christian education as the ideal? What has this ideal accomplished for the student? Achievement, success; not without effort or diligent endeavor however, but by continued climbing toward a definite goal. With this object in view let us go on to the goal toward which we are climbing; to the high things that are awaiting us in the coming years, looking back with pleasant memories to our commencement years at Western Washington Academy. —Titus A. F razee, ’26. page twenty-five

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President’s Address ■ HEN THE CLOSING days of our academic life draw near, when we come to the end of four years of trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, work and play, we realize only the more deeply what our days at Western Washington Acad¬ emy have meant to us. Two conflicting emotions are filling our hearts: one of happiness, that we have successfully completed our academic school life; the other of sadness,—for why should we be happy when we are perhaps leaving forever the school that we hold dear, the pleasant associations, the friends, the memories? And yet we are brought to the place where we must part. Could we but go on as we have, life would be happy—but we know we cannot—so it is for us, Class of ’ 26 , to face the work that is before us; to climb ever upward and onward; and so finally be worthy of the privileges and blessings that we have received while preparing for future service. When we, the Senior Class, selected “Climbing” for our motto, we realized, though perhaps somewhat faintly, that we were on the pathway leading to a height which we had not as yet reached. To climb successfully, one must know the details of procedure and have a definite aim in view. Because the students of the Class of ’26 have such an aim, they are here tonight, and have been here during the preceding days, —to learn some details of procedure, the science of living, the pathway to a better land where the unedu¬ cated have no access. The palm tree, beaten by the scorching sun and the ferocious sandstorm, stands green and flourishing in the midst of the desert. Its roots are fed by living springs. Its crown of verdure is seen afar over the parched, desolate plain; and the traveler, on the verge of death, urges his failing steps to the cool shades, and the life-giving water. The palm tree represents the school, the traveler the Class of ’ 26 , who have found here life-giving water, that we might climb farther on life’s upward path, and carry our blessings to others. The true problem of living is to keep our hearts always serene, gentle, and peaceful, amid the most trying experiences and conditions. If you remove the snow from the hillside in the late winter, you will find sweet flowers growing there, beneath the cold drifts, unhurt by the storm and by the snowy blankets that have covered them. So we should keep our hearts tender and sensitive beneath life’s fiercest winter- blasts, through the longest years of struggles, disap¬ pointments, and even injustice and wrong treatment. This is true successful living. Before we had the opportunity of attending a Christian school, our ideas and ideals of education took too narrow and too low a range. There is a true education which means more than the perusal of a certain course of study. It is more than a preparation page twenty-four

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Class Song, In the shadow of a mountain Where cooling breezes blow; An azure sky and a fountain Where deeds of wisdom flow. Chorus : Oh, Western Washingto n A cade my , Round thee our heart strings twine. May zve like thee and the mountain Stand true till the end of time. The mountain leads us upward The fountain shows the way. Rainier is the name of the mountain, The fountain W. IV. A. We’ve heard the urge of the mountain As it bids us upzeard go, We’ve quenched our thirst at the fountain Where deeds of wisdom flozv. —Carroll Canning, ’26. page twenty-six