Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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THE SASSAMON 9 some are to continue their studies fur- ther at schools or colleges, yet may we always be loyal and true to our Alma Mater. We have all received our ele- mentary lessons of life, the time now here when we are to test life for our- selves, but there will come to us from time to time echoes of the Past, sweet and clear, bringing back to us scores of memories. Our Commencement, how- ever, will be, I am sure, the happiest of all our memories. To our happiness, again we welcome you most heartily with the hope that this happiness of ours will prove a pleasure to you. Marguerite D. Whitney. VALEDICTORY Four years, four happy years spent in the pursuit of knowledge have flown by as if they were one, and now, at their completion, our hearts are filled with con- flicting emotions. Visions of the past Hit before our eyes. We see ourselves as we first entered high school, freshmen- small, frightened, yet proud of the fact that we had to go to school so early in the morning. As sophomores we were still more proud. We were no longer freshmen-we studied geometry and read Shakespeare. As juniors we looked down upon the lower classes and looked after them in a kind of big brother and sister fashion. And then we were sen- iors. Ah, seniors! There is music in the word. That blissful state, the goal of all attainment, when attained, to be en- joyed! What cared we for the other classes. We had passed through their trivial joys and sorrows and had reached the heights. We were monarchs of all we surveyed. Memories are sweet, sadly sweet often- times-we may not live them over again. Yet that is well, for it is far better to live in the future than in the past. As for the present,-all this is the present g the memories, the satisfaction of work well done, the joy of attainment, the mystery of the future. The future! Far more interesting than the past, or even the present, is the fu- ture. What are we going to do? What is going to happen to us? All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players, . l They have their exits and their en- trances: And one man in his time plays many parts, - So sang the bard of Avon, the gentle, wise man, who knew how to put in words the unfathomable things one thinks and cannot say. How can we know what will come? lt may be good, it may be evil, but evil or good, it will be great in proportion as we make it so by our deeds. We must cle- cide what will be our goal in life and choose the course we will follow to at- tain it. As with Bassanio, there are three caslcets before us to choose from, in one of which is hidden Happiness. The golden casket-that is wealth, the silver is fame, while the leaden one rep- resents a life, not famous nor rich, but full of utility to man. Happiness is not found for all in the same casket. There- fore it behooves us to consider wisely e'er we say, Here choose I: joy be the conse- quence! We are young. joy seems our natural lot in life. Into the world of busy, prac- tical men and women We will bring our ideals, our hopes, our enthusiasms. The part we play will be the messenger who brings good news and cheer and encour- agement. Of all our great store of en- thusiasm we will freely give. We shall love the world and the world will love us, we, who find, Tongues in trees, books in running brooks, and good in czferyflzing ! The future is pleasant, it beckons us enticingly. The present is fast becoming past. Why linger longer over our dreams and prophecies? Yet, Parting is such sorrowingf' l would say farewell 'till it were morrow. Our teachers, our schoolmates, our high school-we are going to leave them all tonight. Our teachers, who have done so much for us, who have made us what we are-how can we show them our appreciation? More is their due than more than all can pay. And what is our little compared with

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8 TH li SASSAMC JN 5? 5- ff: SL: Z? , fx: ? S,'fl.UT.'fTORY The class of 1916 extends to you all a most cordial welcome tonight. XVe are glad that you are able to be with us at this time when we receive our reward for four long, yet seemingly short, years of work. We have reached the goal for which we have striven-graduation. lthile I was considering what 1 might say to welcome you here, the thought came to me, the very letters of the word XYelcome stand for many useful, guid- ing thoughts which we might well keep in mind for the future. The initial letter XY could represent the wisdom we have attained here under the careful guidance of our teachers as well as the welcome that we, all of us, feel toward you tonight-the pleasure of having you with us. It expresses our worth to the world in the future, our worthiness as citizens to serve our town, our state, our country! lf designates our education: the.edu- cation that our town has given us as an example of its faith and trust in usg an education that has fitted our class for bigger, better, broader citizenship. lf, likewise, designates our earnest endeav- ors in our school life. Our equipment is good, our armor is strong: so let us meet the battles of life face to face. l. stands for the great field of l.ife which stretches out before us. It stands for the language of that life-for the language and the lessons that we have yet to learn. I, symbolizes the love that we x bear towards our Alma Mater, a love that has increased through the close com- panionship of our life hereg and it rep- resents the loss of these friends and these teachers that have meant so much to us. C indicates first of all our class. The class of 1916! Long may it live, united in spirit though our ways may be far apart. May we be able to come back as alumni, when opportunity affords, and live over again scenes that are dear to us. C is for the character we have been moulding during the past few years. XVill it stand the test of Life? C stands for this Commencement. Let this day be the brightest and happiest of our high school course. Let us be of good cheer and enjoy these last few hours while we still have them with us. O expresses the oneness of our hearts and minds on this occasion, a parting which is one of both joy and sadness. It represents, too, the door of opportun- ity. XVe, alone, can find the key which will open to us, perhaps, Success. M points to our class motto I serve. Certainly one worthy of any class. Let it be our motto through life. None bet- ter could we find. M speaks of the mem- ories that will be left us after Commence- ment is over. Some will be happy, some, no doubt, will be sad. It would not be right if it were not so, for sadness, in its opposite quality, serves only to heighten our happiness. lf reminds us of the end, the parting of the ways. that is so near, Some are to enter directly the school of life-

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10 THE SASSAMON more than all? Dear Schoolmates, our friends, you, who will take our places next year, be loyal to your high school and in so doing be loyal to yourselves. Be co-workers with your teachers and remember their beads are wiser than yours-their ways are best. Dear Iligh School, we may pass on tp other scenes of life, yet never can we forget the happy hours spent within thy walls. In the Garden of our lives we have planted rosemary for remembrance! Farewell! Miriam Eldridge. CLASS POEM Classmates we've all assembled here to- night To bid farewell to high school days now past, Ilut from us naught can ever break those ties Of faithful friendship made always to last. Through these years of toil and pleas- ure Spent in this our dear high school, llave we striven and won together Access to a higher goal. E'en as the shell brings inward from the sea The murmur of its void and unknown home, So may we now, the class, nineteen sixteen Bear worthy Natick echoes where we roam. Thus we stand this night of parting, Met before the opened gates, Now, we pass to paths of promise Where new life before us waits. And as we sadly leave our honored high school Grateful for the good we've learned therein, We thank once more, our teachers kind and good For garlands of success they've helped us win. Natick High School days are over, Farewell to them all we say, As to greater tasks before us Pass we through the upward way. Launched at last on life's broad sea, Ever let our motto be I serve. Esther Pendleton. CLASS ORATION AN ASPECT OF MODERN LIFE It is said of the ermine that it will often suffer injury rather than allow pol- lution to touch its glossy coat, but take away the coat and the animal is worth- less. VVe have ermines in higher life, those who love display. The de- sire to seem, rather than to be, is a fault which our age, as well as all other ages, must deplore. Sham is carried into every department of life, and we are being cor- rupted by show and surface. We are be- ginning to judge people more by what they have, than by what they are, we have too few Hamlets who are bold enough to proclaim, I know, not seem! Although reputation may in some de- gree be taking the place of character, yet the latter has lost none of its worth, and, now, as of old, is a priceless posses- sion, wherever found. Its absence and presence, alike, prove its value. Have you not at some time or other talked with those whose brilliant wit, piercing sar- casm and well framed sentences failed to conceal a certain indescribable something which made you distrust every word they uttered? Have you not listened to those whose eloquence dazzled, whose feigned earnestness incited in you an enthusiasm equal to their own, and yet, have you not felt that behind all this there was lurking a certain something that repelled the admiration which their genius at- tracted? That something is want of character, or, to speak more truly, the possession of bad character, and it shows itself alike in nations and individuals. Aeschines was one of the greatest ora- tors that ever thrilled a Grecian audi- ence. His masterpiece was his oration against the crowning of Demosthenes. It was a masterly production, well ar- ranged, excellently written and effective- ly delivered. Its merits were so great, that, when many years later, as an exile, he delivered it before a foreign audience, they were astonished that it had not won for him his cause. Nevertheless, it fell