Berry High School - Torch Yearbook (Mount Berry, GA)

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SILVER AND BLUE on and faithfully endeavored to climb. They may be larger, wiser, better, and more attractive from the worldls point of view, but they can never by any possible chance be the first. That honor will always belong to us. We are pioneers of this Senior Col- lege. We have blazed the trail that others are to follow. The future classes will claim the right to look to us as an example. They will watch our course in life, our failures and suc- cesses, and depend upon us for the in- spiration and encouragement that the younger always demands from the older on the battlefields of life. At last we have reached the goal we have been striving to reach for many years. We have looked forward to the time when we would receive our degrees. Now that time has come and we must cast away our privileges and pleasures of school-only to hold them in our memories as we take up the greater burdens that beset us as we venture into the great unknown. But Browning assures us happily: God's in His heaven, Al1's right with the world. It is with that assurance we go forth to meet the problems which life holds in store for us. There have been times in our school life when everything seemed dark and disheartening. We have learned, the meaning of sorrow and disappoint- ment-to some degree-from the human standpoint. And at times it was hard to agree with Browning when he wrote the cheering words All's right with the worldf' We realize now it was necessary for us to meet disappointments and under- go hardships to be able to reach the perfection of character we all desire to attain, and know that: Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. We who are about to take our places in the world outside of school are glad to feel the assurance that God holds our destinies in the hollow of His hand, and shapes our paths accord- ing to His all-wise, all-powerful con- ception. You ask us where we are going and what we are going to do. Can we say? We may think we have our lives mapped out in a systematic form, but one breath of wind may change our whole plan, to prove to us once more the reality that there is a: Divinity that shapes our lives, Rough-hew them how we will . We admit we dare, not tell just what our lives may be, or where they may be lived. We can only say: I know not where God's place for me may beg I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care. Does it matter where we may drift so long as we are doing our part in the Divine plan? Whatever our part may be we will do our best to live up to the aims and ideals of the school from which we are going. To you, Miss Berry, who by your prayers and persistent labor made this school possible and gave us the privi- lege of graduating-want you to know we not only realize the honor that is ours, but we also comprehend some of the responsibility that belongs to that honor. We have done our best to make the most of every opportunity made possible for us. And we trust Page Seventeen

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SILVER AND BLUE VN POEM The fleeting years as back we look Have been but few and brief, But light they've shed on darksome spots To bring us calm relief. That inmost urge that summoned us To treasures then unknown We bid to tarry with us still And steer us on and on. Companionships-most treasured gifts 'These we can ne'er forget, But time has come for us to part With our sincere regret, Though times will change and friends will part ' We'll cherish to the end Fond dreams of our dear Alma Mater And hope to meet again. Our ray of hope will sometimes gleam And sometimes seem to fade, But looking back we'll e're recall The true example laid, And then we'll toil with cheerful heart, Undaunted by a care, To fan this fading flame to life And doubts will disappear. The coming years will, too, be brief Just as the ones now passed But richest memories will blend To calm all stormy blasts. Let us then bear this hopeful thought Forever in our mind- That somehow if we strive with faith We'll reach the heights sublime. Information is the most valuable item in all the world-if you know how to use it. SALUTATORY Miss Berry, Faculty, Students, and Friends: It is my great pleasure and privilege to greet you in the name of the first class that has ever passed from this Senior College. And in the name of all my classmates I pass on to you the glad hail of our enthusiastic welcome. We wonder if you realize just how proud we are of this privilege of welcoming you to the first simple ceremonies as the first class. We are so small in number that we might feel more humble than we do, did we not realize the place we are to hold in the history of this college through the years that are to come. Classes will come and go, boys and girls in large numbers will go forth from this college with all the pride of a finished graduateg men and women in years to come will look back with fond reminis- cences to the days of school life with- in these wallsg but there will never be another class like this in the history of the college. We alone can be the first. Do you blame us, that we value this distinction that sets our small class supreme over all the classes yet to come and go? It is quite possible that never again will so small, and apparently insignificant a class go forth from this college. It may also be quite possible, though we naturally shrink from the thought, that the classes to come after us may be far wiser and more brilliant than we have with all our efforts been able to reach, and so attain greater heights than those which we have so persistently Page Sixteen

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SILVER AND BLUE that you will ever find us loyal to our dear Alma Mater. We welcome you, who have come to watch the passing of this first class into the real commencement of our lives. Again we extend the most cordial and sincere welcome to one and all. VALEDICTORY Classmates, Members of the Faculty, Friends: I count it a signal honor to represent to you, this, the pioneer class of Berry college. To you, this may be only one of such occasions, but to us, it is a day long to be remembered. We have bl-azed the trail which others are to follow and today marks the goal toward which we, for four long years, have persistently striven. We pause to look back upon our past, not as one old, growing reminiscent, but as prudent youths at the threshold of new tasks, stretching forth a hand of service. To Miss Berry our first words of parting are due. We realize that words are inadequate for expressing our gratitude to her. She has touched, strengthened, and transformed our lives. During our sojourn at Berry each of us has gained a higher and nobler vision. We shall ever cherish the fond memories of our days at this institution and shall each endeavor to pass on to our fellow man those noble thoughts and ideals which our beloved Founder has instilled into our minds and souls. Dr. Green, Dr. Cook, and Members of the Faculty, we offer you our heart- felt appreciation for the part you have played in molding our characters. Your lives have been beacons guiding us along the paths of truth and wisdom. ml As we leave your supervision we feel that each of us is equipped with a measure of knowledge and a fund of rich experiences which we shall list among our greatest treasures. Fellow students of the rising classes, we welcome you to the place which we are now vacating and we know that you will fill it worthily. To you we intrust the interests that we once held together. We are glad to commend them to you who have proven your unwaver- ing allegiance to our Alma Mater. In parting we pass on to you this thought: Bold efforts are Ambition's feet With which she climbs the highest mount, The path of service spans defeat, And leads unto achievement's fountf' Classmates, we have been the trail blazers of a great institution. We are proud to be the first graduates of such a noble college. Our honor has been attained by effort. Our lives have been fortified by faith and colored by our environment. All of us are filled with burning ambitionsg but let us not for- get, that life is neither all success, nor all failure. If the outlook be dark, remember, the tide will turn. There is one thing we can all do, and that is, keep on keeping on! We may not reach the utmost height On which our eyes are set, But we can keep our brightest light On heart's strong parapet. The greatest prize is not the goal That shines out far ahead, But hearts that mingle with the soul, And lift it from the dead. Every sensible man knows his faults and is doing his best to correct them. Page Eighteen