Technical High School - Techtonian Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

Page 19 text:

VALEDICTORY We are gathered here in the presence of parents, teachers, and all the friends of these four years to mark the passing of an era in our lives, one which we shall someday regard as a time of idyllic happiness. We are here to say farewell to a phase of life which has been secure, sheltered, and, to each according to his light, successful. We have been fortunate in securing four such years of peaceful, civilized, useful education in a troubled world, now as we depart to seek our separate, unknown destinies it is a wholesome and a fitting thing to pause briefly, glancing back and taking stock of ourselves and our equipment, before leaving to keep a rendezvous with life. Sufficient has been said of the kind and quality of education We received here 5 too little is spoken of the responsibility incurred by all who receive education. They must account for the use made of such assets. How to discharge such responsibility is a problem whose solution is vague to most of us, we only trust that when the time and opportunity occur we shall render a good accounting of ourselves, not alone by the assimilation of book knowledge, but especially through the less tangible acquisition which is providentially ours, the ideals of American culture. While we worked and studied here, enjoying the pleasures of good fellowship, there were in- stilled in us certain ideals of justice, righteousness, truth, honor, liberty, good citizenship, loyalty, patriotism, decency, and fair play. These ideals must be firmly intrenched in our souls that they may be the gleam we follow. The burden of living inexorably shifts to our own shoulders. It is natural that we should assume this burden, even assume it joyously, and confidently, and take up the work of the world for progress is the way of life. We must bend ourselves to the task of making our world a better place to live in and of building successful lives upon the foundation of our education and our ideals. As our ways wind onward we bid farewell to these familiar halls, to the comrades of our four years, to teachers who have guided us in the paths of scholarship and decorum. Now let us feel the exhilarating splendor, the matchless exultation of this priceless moment when we go forth undaunted to face the world, in the full pride of youth with head held high, alone, yet unafraid. MYRON GOOD Tecbtonian, 1940

Page 18 text:

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS ACH year it becomes the pleasant duty of the Senior president to welcome our parents and friends and the members of the faculty to the numerous festivities and exercises that mark our gradu- ation. I consider it more of a privilege than a duty to hope you will thoroughly enjoy our Class Day with us-the day that seems the beginning of the end, a day whose happiness for us is somewhat mixed with sadness. Tech has been our home, the scene of our severe struggle for four years, and we leave it with regret. It has through its fine traditions, thorough instruction and friendly discipline guided us in our aspirations to greater achievements. But as we step through the door with our coveted diplomas in hand-as we turn to read for the last time the words Skill, Knowledge, Power carved overhead, we leave this careful guidance. However, we should feel no discouragement nor fear of the future for we know that Tech men have received the training so necessary to make successful men. We have a definite product to offer to an employer. In the world of to-morrow where science and engineering will be dominant factors, where every new invention will create a new field, the technician will be the ruler. The graduates of our technical courses will secure positions in industry where they have many times been placed on a par with college men and have borne their full share of the work. Perhaps many of the present Seniors will take advantage of the fifth year courses, which have come to be recognized as almost necessary in helping students to obtain desirable positions. Of the success of those of our number who go on to college, there can be little doubt. Every additional year of training should increase the value of any man in the technical field. If it were only the essential knowledge of our specialty we had gained, many would feel that a vital part of our education had been neglected. Through our musical groups, we have developed valuable talents, by debating and public speaking, we have been taught to speak fluently and well, in our many clubs, we have gained power of leadership and made enduring friendships, and last but far from least, we have learned fair play and co-operation and have acquired vigorous health by means of our competitive sports. Our preparation for life has been a thorough education. This year of 1940 takes on a new significance as we gaze across the Atlantic and see thousands of boys our age sacrificing their lives in the grim game of warfare. We need only stop and think, as we read the names upon the bronze tablet in the corridor, of the Tech boys who died in the last war and of the waste of humanity now going on in foreign countries, and we can thank God we live in America, where we trust another war will never come. It will be our future duty not only to aid in the materialistic progress of our nation, but also to preserve its security by exercising the virtues of loyalty, co-operation and service we have learned at Technical High School. EDWARD G. RICH Tecbtanian, 1940

Page 20 text:

Tecbtonian, 1940 RETROSPECT: 1990 I am still confined to my chair, But in the afternoons I can sit in the sun . . . From the porch I can see the old red building, And the three doors, So symbolic of every syllable of the life I ever spent three . . . The flag still waves, And the stacks still belch their smoke Into a changeless sky . . . Charles came to visit me today . . . We had a long talk about the old times. He and I were always late at class, And we'd swing hurriedly up the broad sta'rcases And laugh with the deep-rooted joy of living . . . We talked about the labs And the smell of sulfide gas, And how we'd dream for hours on end With only the rhythmic scratch of emery paper On mirrors of metal . . . I sat there for a long time after he had left. I sat and looked at the mauve sunset And at the old red building, And at the past . . . It is strange, when one looks back on the past. So much of it's reality has gone, All the tangible, metallic reality, And in its place a terrifying sense of emptiness . . But something still is mine, Which has a reality all its own, As real as the test tubes, the drawings, and the bo This prize I grasp Has a prismatic, enduring reality That warms the soul, And steels the heart against the fear of age . . . Yes, this remains- A love for every atom of life and happiness During those years, Strong enough to bridge the chasm of time, To span the sea of change, And give impetus to the wheel of memory . . My reality Can cleve the sphere of life, It can reveal The core of beauty, and the heart of flame . . . I can be calm, I can be unafraid. I can sit out my years with a peace of mind That only love bestows . . . Always shall come other men to share that love, Always there shall be other men to love My glass, my steam, my steel as I do . . . Ours is a deathless love, a love of life, The only hope, the only crown Of years . . . oks WALDEMAR HANSEN