Columbia High School - Mirror Yearbook (Maplewood, NJ)

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 Jle junior (dCate eSen ted: On your Work ” 2directed by: Wlr. -4La„J,r f?,J r

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tthfetic IdAociation With the coming of the atomic age and jet propulsion, G.A.A. decided, it. too, could go modern. So donning her new red bathing sack, our modern girl zooms off to steal a glance at today's woman in the athletic world. Surprise! Surprise! Recreational swimming will now gross the channel aspirants four points per afternoon. However our senior miss leaves such strenuous activities to the more hardy sophomores, and practices dipping her face in a large bowl of water. Speedball is neglected for the most part by this senior, since watching boys proved to be more fun and less risky. However, that is nothing new. Basketball rules are all fixed up for this modern girl. She can now throw the ball while sitting, lying, or kicking on the floor; a position very familiar to those who claim to be athletic. Quite carried away by bowling in the fall, seniors found it hard to resist sending volleyballs under the net instead of over. Well, almost over. So, slightly bewildered by all these innovations and very much surprised that she didn’t get her letter, or at least a numeral, our modern senior says “goodbye” regret- fully and with the thought that she, after all, had fun!

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Senior History is about to pull its proverbial stunt: it is going to repeat itself. We entered Columbia, joyful, eager, apprehensive, and curious, in the confused state of mind which usually describes that paradox known as the sophomore. Three years at Columbia have effected a miraculous change until now we feel quite self-confident, considerably more mature, perhaps a little wiser. Hence we find ourselves overjoyed at the prospect of going beyond our sheltering walls, eager for the status of adulthood, yet apprehensive of the responsibilities we must meet, and curious about our future. Yes, in a sense we are about to become sophomores again; novices in business, lower- classmen in college, human atoms inexperienced in the complexities of life. However, thanks to our experiences at Columbia, we will never again find ourselves completely dismayed by new problems or difficult situations. Although we shall have much to learn after we leave the cloistered confines of Columbia High School, we shall be prepared to assume our re- sponsibilities as citizens of the world and directors of its destiny. Our energetic activities must have begun the minute we entered Columbia in September, 1949; for the upper-classmen soon discovered sophomores in the midst of Varsity sports, assembly programs, The yolumbta newsroom, clubs, and council committees. Our first year at Columbia witnessed the advent of the voting machine at school elections. Traditions Week, and the teas for the parents of the sophomore class. When we returned to school as Juniors, we found that the outbreak of the war in Korea in June of 1950 had restored the monthly air raid drill and the too familiar sight of a boy in uniform. Although the headlines were constantly filled with the progress of the war and new draft bills which afTected so many of bur friends and might soon affect us, we realized that we had a job to do. We had to learn how to understand the peoples of the world and their problems that we might better serve the cause of freedom and justice. We wanted to devote our best efforts to our activities and our education. I So it was with a sense of relief that we approached Junior Night with all its attendant pleasures and problems. Though it was not apparent at first, we soon found ourselves involved in a musical fantasy incorporating the treachery of Duke Dad I, the wiles of the wicked witch Clammypalm, the love of the Princess Flanclla for Clancy, and the antics of a quaint little man known as The Geezix. Spring with its posters and reams of speeches plunged us into an election campaign procedure quite different from that of the days of the side-shows and traveling bands. Our candidates had to prove themselves on the basis of their individual merits. Coming upon us with very little warning, our senior year found us somewhat unprepared to accept our additional responsibilities. Instead of greeting it with shouts from the roof tops, “We’re Seniors! Do you hear us? We’re Seniors!” we sat down in the middle of the auditorium and laughed at the peculiar characters who popped out of the living room of our senior play, “You Can’t Take It With You.” We published the 1952 Mirror with the aid of the innovations afforded by the use of photo-offset. For the first time in the history of Columbia High School, we won the state football championship. In short, we were too busy to realize we were Seniors. The Class of 1952 will always strive especially to follow the ideals and standards set for us by two of the most understanding friends we have had and have lost—Miss Caswell, our guide, and Mr. Crehan, our principal. And now, as we try to snatch our days at Columbia from that miserly man calk'd Time, deep within us we know we cannot succeed. We now realize that our progress in life will depend upon how well we adjust to the many experiences through which Time will lead us. A bit reluctantly, we are leaving Columbia, but we are taking with us the friendships and wealth of wisdom we have accumulated here.