St Michaels University School - Black Red and Blue Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

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mum requirement, and it cannot be emphasized too strongly that all young people should remain in school as long as possible, provided that they are applying themselves to their studies. This year over six million students in Canada are enrolled in all types of schools, including the Universities. Unly fifteen years ago approximately two million were in attendance in similar types of educational institutions. This is a remarkable growth in a relatively short period. Before I commence the text of my address I would remind all students before me of two important matters. First-that you owe much to your parents for any success you may have had up to this time. They have clothed you, fed you and given you encouragement and sound advice. In many cases they have made sacrifices to enable you to attend this School. If you propose to continue your studies at the University, or at some other school, doubtless your parents will continue to en- courage and to assist you. D0n't ever let them down! Second-the schools, including this one, that you have attended have given you fine opportunities in ternzs of the teachers and facilities provided. The groundwork has already been laid for your future scholarship and suc- cess. Achievement later at the University, success in your work in after life and the habits you have formed can be traced back to our elemen- tary and secondary schools, of which this University School is one. Scholars are not produced by some miracle at the University. Often our public and independent schools do not get the credit they deserve in this respect. Wlhat can I say, then, to a group of students, some of whom are about to complete four years of secondaiy school while others are still in the early grades of this School? It is fitting. I think, to consider at your stage, particularly in the case of the older boys, what things are most important in life. Surely the answer will always be the kind of person you will develop into as an adult and the kind of citizen you will become in the future. Probably the number one problem facing you is to choose a lifess work of some kind which will give you satisfaction and happiness. I am sure everyone here today wants to be a success and to do well. No one wants to be a failure. Everyone has a potential career before him and every- one yan End a niche in the social order of his community. Having chosen your future career, what are your chances of making a real success of it? To be a success involves two things-first, a personal one, that of attaining your goal in lifeg second, a social one, that of helping to make the world about you a better place in which to live. A combination of these two is really true success. There are certain keys to success and to the future which lies before you. As I refer to these, I have in mind lNIr. Barker. It has been said that the greatest results in life and the greatest achievements have been attained by very simple means and by the exercising of veiy ordinary qualities. lVhat are some of these keys to success? Well, the first key to success is industry, or hard work. There is no substitute for hard work, and many of the joys and satisfactions of life come directly from it. Many men of great achievement may have only average ability, yet they are persistent and they are willing to spend time in doing a job, 12

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SPEECH DAY A large number of Parents, Old Boys and friends of the School gathered in the Gymnasium for the annual ceremonies, at which the principal guests were Dr. F. K. English, presently B.C. Commissioner of Public Utilities, and formerly Deputy lXIinister and Superintendent of Education, and Mr. A. S. Barker Sr., of Vancouver. It was most appropriate that these two distinguished gentlemen should find them- selves together in this academic setting, since some forty years before they had been student contemporaries at the University of Alberta, and the present circumstances undoubtedly gave pleasure to both. The proceedings opened with the Headmaster's Report, followed by the Presentation of Awards and the Address by Dr. English, for which John Graham, as Head Prefect, proposed a vote of thanks. This was seconded by the Chairman of the Board of Governors, who referred to the great work done by Mr. Logan Mayhew in the continued expan- sion of our building programme. Then lXIr. Barker was prevailed upon to speak, which he did, brieliy and humorously, to the great delight of everyone. The party then proceeded to the Barker Library, where Dr. English unveiled the connnemoration bronze plaque and declared the building oflicially open. The complete text of Dr. English's Address is as follows: UI consider it a great honour to be asked today to present the Aca- demic Awards, to address the students of this School and to assist in dedicating a Library made possible by our honoured guests and bene- factors, Mr. and lXIrs. A. S. Barker. Several times in the past your Headmaster, lXfIr. Timmis, has invited me to attend these Exercises, but for one reason or another over the years I have found it impossible to be present. There is a number of Old Boys here today participating in your Commencement Programme, but the term Old Boy in my case has a different connotation. This is a new experience for me because my career of forty years has been in the public school system. However, I have always had considerable respect for the better Independent Schools in this Province. Some of them, including this one, have fine academic records. Independent Schools, because of their relatively small sizes and close supervision by staffs, have some advantages over those in the public system. They can probably emphasize more effec- tively those factors involved in character-building. such as Honour, Integrity, Courage, Sportsmanship and the like. It is also a pleasure to be here because your Headmaster and I have been friends for some years, and I respect him as a scholar and as a leader in this area of education. I recognize that I am speaking today to different levels of students, and that many of the students here will be leaving the School at the end of tenn, while others, of course, will continue in September. lX4ay I say that at one time, and within my' memory, elementary schooling up to Grade 8 was sufhcient for any job except one in the professions. Today graduation from a secondary school is really a mini- 11

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to persevere in the face of great odds. People with less ability have to work harder, but all authorities are agreed that work, intelligently applied, is probably the most important key to success. The second key to success is good mental and physical health. VV ith- out good health everything is diflicult. lVhile there are many examples of people in the world who have led successful lives in spite of physical handicaps, yet such difficulties may have hindered them in attaining the ultimate. Good health, of course, can be ruined-more often by overplaying than by overworking. The third key to success involves exercising judgment, or just ordinary common sense, in the things you do. A person who has a fair amount of common sense learns from his mistakes. In the affairs of the world judgnient is a quality of supreme importance. Many men have good, often brilliant, ideas, but are unable to execute them because they lack judgment. And the final key to success might be called Hdrivel' or 'cimpulsefl This is the ability to act quickly and to make decisions promptly. To act on the impulse is quickly to size up a situation and to act immediately instead of saying, 'CThat looks like a good idea,', and then doing nothing about it. Most successful men and women have trained themselves to make up their minds quickly and to swing into action. They have acquired the Do- It-Noww habit. These, then, are four simple keys or principles - work, health, judg- ment and drive- which will go a long way to making you successful boys and men in after life. Few men better exemplify these keys than Mr. Barker. Finally, may I remind you that education is a life-long process. It does not end with a diploma from this School, or a certificate from the De artment of Education or a Universit degree. It is continuous. , Y. D . . One never actually completes ones education, but is always in the process of acquiring more. For what was learned yesterday is not en- tirely true today, and some of the things we know and believe today will not be valid tomorrow. No one's education is ever finished - which you should have an open and receptive mind and be ready to learn as you look into the future. In conclusion, in this month of june in all schools. both public and private, all over Canada thousands of young people like yourselves will be leaving school. Some of you in the future will become Statesmen, Business Executives, Union Leaders, Blaster Craftsmen. Others will be Doctors Lawvers Engineers Accountants Research Scientists. Some of 9 , 1 3 9 you will become ClCIl'5TllCll or Teachers, and some few will represent the Country in the world of Rlusic, the Arts and Literature. Nobody can be quite sure at this moment who these people are going to be. or just how their careers will be shaped. lN'e cannot with accuracy forecast success for anyone. All we know is that many of you in this room will be the successful men of tomorrow, and that you will occupy positions of trust, honour and importance in the years that lie ahead. The future, Gentlemen, belongs to you! In a few minutes we shall proceed to the New Library, but hrst let me say that we are assembled here to open the Library oflicially and to pay tribute to lXlr. and M1's. A. Barker, who have generously 13