University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

Page 20 text:

For some there are, and they the majority, who choose the path leading to the North Gate. They pass half carelessly through the language and litera- ture rooms of North Hall, they sniff at the flowers in the Botanical Gardens, they cast a glance at science through the trees which surround the Observ- atory, they plunge for a moment into the intricacies of architecture and then life is before them, the life of the many. A settled, not un- happy life, a nice neigh- borhood, a delightful view, convenient car service quite uneventful respectability. But others will at the start take one of the wind- ing, thread-like paths, which wander between queer-flow- ered trees, and of these their comrades speak as dreamers. 16

Page 19 text:

The Campus Gates Christina Krysto, ' 09 r him who first enters the campus, there is but one way along which he might pass, and each and every freshman has trudged over this selfsame path, the path which leads from the western entrance. It is a perplexing path, for the ordinary, everv-day world is still scarcely left behind, and its din still sounds in his ears, while the campus itself is but a maze of trees and paths, and green plots where men work, and nothing definite greets the eye of the new- r. The vivid visions of college are fast leaving, but no new visions come to take their place. Thus he walks on step after step, now in chilling shadows, in a patch of warm sunlight, around the curves of the road, which still seem to lead nowhere. Life seems a little lonely, and often the desire to turn back is strong, but by now. the gate itself is lost to view and he trudges on. Then little by little some definite parts of the campus appear. The fresh- man pauses by the cinder track, is forced out upon the drill field, wanders into Harmon Gymnasium, swings a few clubs, dances a waltz or two. Then the buildings claim him. now this, now that an occasional stroll into the Library, a plunge into politics at North Hall steps. Xo longer is the scene indistinct or confused, he sees the purpose, the plan of it all. and he loves to stand on the it walk beneath the flagpole and watch the later freshmen wandering up the same path, open mouthed, pausing now here, now there. All too soon has he learned the campus, all too soon is he ready to leave. The countless multitude has all come in through the one gate, has looked at the same trees, has debated over the same paths. But no one ever leaves by the Western Gate, that path can never again be taken. And the paths which lead leparting are count

Page 21 text:

and lorgtt them when they have passed around a turn of the path. For they will choos 5 Steps as heir entrance into the world, and will climb their cracktd. moss-grown slabs wrapped in the half gloom and the m of the tangled vines about them, with the laurel trees shading their steps. ;ire they pitied by the comrades, for the tree ' s branches are just beyond their reach, and these com- rades can not guess that for the dreamer the laurel shade nore grateful than a crown of its branches, for ' tis his lot .ieditate. to muse, to dream. To live the life that ne ' er will be. The Stiles Hall Gate is always crowded, the little men pass here. There is no beaut} 1 to regret as one walks out between the two wooden