Cohn High School - Accolade Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

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VALEDICTORY THQE VICTORIOUS LIFE We have crossed the bayg the ocean lies before us. WVe of the senior class have crossed the bay, and the time has come for us to embark upon the wide and open sea. Life may be compared to a voyage made upon the ocean. just as the ship that sails the sea must have a destination to reach and a course to follow, so must we have a goal in life that we are striving to attain and a pattern by which to reach that ambition. Each person should set his goal before him and strive every day of his life to reach it. ivithout a destination the ship would drift. Without a goal we would stand still. ln this day, life is too short for us to wait very long before deciding what our aim will be. If we plan to become a doctor, nurse. lawyer, minister, businessman, or enter into an- other type of work, we should set that before us and ever guide toward it. The artist must have a concept of the picture he is going to paint, the architect, a blueprint of the building he is to construct, and we, a picture of the kind of life we want to live and an understanding of its possibilities. However, a purpose alone is not sufficient. ive need also a faith in ourselves that we can make our dreams become realities. The victorious life can be lived only through faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. the evidence of things not seen. One has attained faith when he has become positively assured that something for which he has hoped is certain to come to pass. Such faith is needed in every phase of life. lt is a victorious power in every battle. Faith yields rare, rich returns. I stood and watched my ships go out, Each, one by one unmooring, freeg lifeamuhile the quiet harbor filled l'Vith flood tides from the sea. lily gallant ships, they sailed away, Over thc shimmering summer sea: I stood on watch for many a day, And only one came back to me. For joy was caught by Pirate Pain, And Hope ran on a hidden reef, And Love took Dre and foundered just On blazing shores of grief. ac Faith came at last, storm, beat and tossed, And rerompensed me all my loss, For as a cargo safe she brought A Crown linked to a Cross. The life of faith is a life of peril, for men and women of today are seeking material possessions rather than spiritual values. Too many do ll0t learn from the yes- terdays. They do not look to the tomorrows, but instead they live for today. YVe must build a life that not only has a goal and the faith to reach that goal, but that also has as its ultimate purpose the enriching of other people's lives. Mlhether our life is of service to others will depend upon our career. Out of this senior class will come many different types of careers and professions. There will be those who will choose to be nurses or doctors because they care for the physical Stale of a human being. Others may prefer to be ministers who provide people with a spiritual insight on life. There is -the teacher whose duty lies beyond that of teaching a book. Another career that is just as impor- tant is that of being a mother. A child needs a faithful, honest, trustworthy, and dependable mother in order to develop into the well-rounded person he should be. Re- gardless of the career we choose, we will all have one aim in common-that of attaining a love and understanding of human nature. YVhen we have this purpose in life, faith in ourselves, and the desire to help others, we are ready to set forth across the sea of life. ,aa

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S A L U T A T O R Y JOSEPHINE TAYLOR OUR DEBT TO POSTERITY Tonight we are leaving our Alma Mater. Behind us we have the memories of our school days, which are now at a close. Many memories run through our minds, and we relive each incident for a few short seconds before passing to the next. After reminiscing for a while, we turn our minds to the future. wondering what lies ahead of us. Of course, we have made our plans for the next few years, but we wonder if they will turn out all right. Are we ready to look to tl1e future? Have we paid all our debts? Of course we have-we paid all our fees and dues before putting on our caps and gownsg or have we? Haven't we missed something, and something very important at that? Yes. we have overlooked the debt to our teachers for the many things they did for our own good. NVe are prone to forget their many sacrinces-the many sleepless nights they have spent because we hadn't been learning as fast as we should-the silver hairs that made their appearance all too soon because of our miss chievousness-the nights they stayed home to grade the papers of a test about which we had complained so much when what they really wanted to do was to go to a movie or to some other entertainment--the wrinkles that prematurely creased their brows because of countless other things that we did or didn't do. Our teachers are not the only ones who have spent many trying hours with us. Our parents have also devoted much time training us. They have stayed awake many nights to look after us. Vve have also caused them many worries and sleepless nights. They have also grayed be- cause of things we did which at the time seemed small to us, but not to our parents. The things in which our parents instructed us are not the same kind of things that our teachers taught us, but they are every hit as important. 'These things may seem trivial. but they are not. They are a very important part of our lives. But for the i sacrifices of our teachers and parents, we would not be sitting on this platform tonight awaiting our diplomas. Mihat shall we do about this great debt? ive should do the only thing there is to do-pay it back. George Peabody said that education is a debt due from the present to the future generations. But how can we repay this obligation? The best way that we can repay it will be to try to help other people. VVe have upon our shoulders the responsibility of seeing to it that the chil- dren of tomorrow acquire an education. It is our duty to help them as our teachers and parents have aided us. This does not necessarily mean that we have to become schoolteachers, but we should choose a vocation which will he beneficial to others. We should not be selfish, for think what would have happened to us if no one would have been willing to make some sacrifice-if no one had had the inclination to be a teacher-if our parents had not cared whether we got along or not. Even if we do l10t want to become schoolteachers, we can became active leaders in the church which we attend. lVe can be interested in making the community in which we live a better place and in helping many people. Mle can be considerate of others in the vocation we choose. WVe can be courteous to people whom we know and whom we meet. lve should not neglect other things, but neither should we disregard being helpful. Therefore, in our plans for the future we should leave room for the com- munity in which we live. for the church we attend, for the business into which we enter, and for everyone with whom we come in contact under any circumstances. Our plans should concern our city. our state, and our nation. Yve, the members of this graduating class, are the ones who will either hold the offices or choose those whom we want to serve as the officers who will rule the country. YVe are the ones who will make up the communities and the churches. l'Ve are the leaders of tomorrow, and to- morrow comes with the dawn.

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THE OCEAN OF LIFE ive, the graduating class of 1947, have chosen as our motto these challenging words: Vile have crossed the bay, the ocean lies before ns. If we use our imagination, we might say that within the compass of these words will fall the entire history of this graduating class. The en- deavors of our lives might be compared to crossing the ocean that lies before us. WVe will be a thoughtful group as we march out, for our hearts are filled with memories of our previous years at Cohn. XVe'll never forget the first day we entered Cohn. for we felt desolate and lonely. Vile met a lot of people and soon came to love all that the word Cohn stands for. YVe remember with pride our worth-while activities, which made Cohn a better school for our friends whom we leave behind. It was the Honor Society, composed of seniors from this graduating class, that secured the plaque in memory of the boys from Cohn who were killed during WVOrld VVar II. It was our school paper, the Colm Clarion, which has been hlled with news and activities at Cohn, that was rated fourth among the nation. Vve also hold dear to our hearts the memories of such things as a championship football team, banquets, ro- mances, meetings at lockers and strolling the hall to- gether, sometimes being late to classes. The basketball games, plays, and most of all our senior day and prom also. WVe have spent some exciting days at Cohn, days which will always fill our minds with memories we never want to forget. We remember also that our class saw the beginning and end of the most tragic war in history. Our class was in its first term at Cohn when we received the news of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. life all gathered in the auditorium to hear President Roosevelt in a public ad- dress to the nation, declaring war on Japan. The war didn't mean much to us, for there was an ocean between us and the enemy. However, as we grew older and the war still continued, we began to realize how much our generation was to be affected by this struggle. Each term left more vacant seats as our boys went to help end the war and bring peace to the world again-boys who left never to return, boys that we all loved. Yes, we finally came to understand and know the dreadful meaning of war. As time passed and the struggle finally ceased, boys began coming back, some even enrolling in school to continue what the war interrupted. 'Time rolled by, and finally our senior year arrived. That meant that it would be the last year we could tread the halls together, for soon we would he sailing the seas of life. Some seem to think that after graduation life will become easy. no lessons or teachers to worry aboutg but really we have passed the easy stage in our lives. Vlhat lies ahead may include troubles and worries. In other ways we have crossed the bay, which is our school life that we have just finished. Some will turn back before they embark upon the ocean, for the going will get too difficult for them. Those who set sail upon the sea of life without fully being prepared will never reach their destination because they will perish on the way and be lost forever. It will not be an easy trip, and only those who are steadfast and refuse to be defeated will succeed in the end. They will be the ones to complete a suc- cessful voyage. They are the ones who enjoy life as only those do who put something into it. As we leave 'Cohn to face life's difficulties and pleasures, we will part company with our classmates, realizing that we may never see some of them again, because they will be scattered over different sections of the country. Others will be married immediately after graduation, still others will follow their chosen careers. It will be a sad night when we march out beyond those doors. doors which sym- bolize the opening of new vistas to us. doors which some may never enter again. In closing I'd like to summarize in a poem the sentiments I have tried to express: You to the left and I to the right, For the ways of man must sever . . And it well may be for a day and a night, And it well may be forever. But wlzetlzcr we meet or whether we part fFor llm ways are past our knowingj, A pledge from the heart to its fellow lzeart On the way that we are going. Hereit luck! For we know not where we are going. CLINTON HUTCHISON.