Armstrong High School - Rabza Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

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guiding beacon along the treacherous shoals of life. We cannot tell how far our little candle may cast its beams nor who may be laying his course by its flick- ering light. Classmates: There isnot one among us who is not capable of accomplishing something that Old Armstrong will be proud of. What that something will be rests with us. Armstrong must go forward, and we who will in a few days owe our first di- plomas to this institution should see that she does go forward, always remembering that he who achieves success after a great struggle is much greater than he who encounters no obstacles in his path. Keeping ever before us the valuable instructions of our Alma Mater as to the proper performance of our duty, and ever remembering that all our talents and powers are but trusts held for the service of our fellow man and humanity in general, we may hope by due diligence in the performance of our every task to retain ever the good will and confidence which mark our first entrance into life. Let us gratefully accept the responsibilities to which we have been called, fully determined to use all our powers for the welfare of our fellowman. [cies tiney IE | I N the present occasion it is fitting and natural that the Graduating Class of 1905 should re- view its annals, should retrace the stages of its his- tory from its infancy in this school and should try to find from the remnants ofits past which it may gather together, such experieuce as may yet be profitable to it in the future. As I ponder over our past history, my mind goes back to our organization as a class in igor at the Douglass School. At first we numbered twenty: five girls and twenty-one boys, but as each year rolled by we found that there were fewer of us, until now the Section C-4 has only twelve members, of whom seven are original, the rest coming from the M Street High School, Time would fail me if I attempted to do justice to all the treasured memories of that first vear. The hours passed all too soon trom the cheerful ‘Guten Morgen ’ with which we were greeted by Miss Crom- well who gave us a German turn of mind to those long spelling lessons under Mr. Bassett from which we regularly emerged about 4:32—two hours beyond the close of school usually sufficing to make us See the point’’ and ‘ Grasp the idea.’

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ARENTS AND FriuNDS: On behalf of the class of 1905 I heartily welcome you to our class day exercises. Your presence here to day encourages us because it leads us to believe that our efforts have not been in vain. We truly hope that the exercises of the hour may be a source of pleasure and profit to you, and that they may prove an inspiration guid- ing us toward the attainment of higher ideals. As we go forth to enter the great struggle for in- dividual success the question arises, Will we stand or fall? If we stand so does the reputation of this school; but if we fall, the good name of this school falls with us. It rests with each member of the class of igo05sas to whether the banner of Armstrong Manual Training School shall float high in theair, or trailin the dust. Responsibility is duty, and our highest duty is to preserve, maintain and foster the principles so firmly laid down for us by our beloved Alma Mater. As young men and women entering the arena of life we are about to become the architects of our own fortunes. We can have no conflicts without being ourselves the aggressors, we can Secure no victories unless we ourselves have triumphed. The qualifica- | tions which we must possess in order to attain to the full measure of success are many. Three of them, lowever, seem to stand out pre-eminently, thorough- ness, perseverance and reliability. First of all, we must learn to be satisfied with no work that contains anything less than our best efforts. ‘ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to to, do it with thy might’’ is still an excellent motto for us all. Moreover we must link with thoroughness, ‘re- liability. When the world can safely depend upon us to do what we have promised to the very best of our ability, then we shall possess one of the most es- sential of all qualifications—reliability In this great struggle for individual success we may seem so out-classed at first that we will be in- clined to succumb to despair. We must learn to la- bor and then to wait long for adequate and just re- sults; but rather than give up we should cultivate that spirit of perseverance which will remain ever undaunted and unswerving. This struggle will be won by earnest work, The world no longer asks who we are but insists up- on knowing what we can do. We must not hide our light under a bushel, but we should hold it aloft as a

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NIWTUSAIC VITO “MIN SION Wel “SUIN WwW. LB. KVANS Die,