Academy of Richmond County High School - Arc Yearbook (Augusta, GA)

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Let This Be Said of Us: That we were ever searching and trying and learning; meeting opposition and testing our abilities — preparing ourselves; That we learned that life is a search for truth; that truth avails itself only to those who seek it — those who in moments of solitude conceive new ways and weigh old Whys; That we were not afraid of challenging the accepted, of questioning and probing and discovering for ourselves; that we dared to think; That confronted by enigmas at every turn, challenged by new goals bred of past achievement, we found ourselves peering at times into a future whose meaning we could not discern; and yet, were not disillusioned; That we stopped to ponder some sign of failure or decay, but continued again on a path that led through the worst as well as the best; That the most ordinary of things often stirred our feelings; kindled our imag- inations; caused us to wonder, to speculate, to believe; That we saw both the immensity and the intricacy of life and discovered that the simple mirrors the profound; That we sensed the beauty in man’s struggle to communicate emotion; that we experienced the ecstacy of creativity; That through individual initiative and mutual effort, we came to know our entire heritage as civilized social beings; and, ultimately, we came to know ourselves; That we entered the arena with intention to win; mind and sinew, quickened and engaged, fettled and taut, we measured our rival; That we wore the laurel of victory with caution, and learned that failure does not always mean shame: that today’s defeat is the kelson of tomorrow’s triumph; And — finally — Let This Be Said of Us: That we, in the words of William Faulkner, believed, “that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”