Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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Brentwood College Magazine Chapel, Sunday, June 20th, 1943 HE END of another school year is naturally a time for taking stock of our- selves. Some of you are looking forward to a new life, new friends, fresh interests. Others are looking forward, with mixed feelings no doubt, to returning here next September. One and all have reached a milestone and when we reach a milestone we sit down, take a breather and look back along the road we have travelled. This school has now reached its twentieth birthday and as we look back over those years we think, not so much of past Headmasters or staff or of changes in buildings or routine but of the Old Boys — their successes, their strivings and their failings. All that they did or strove to do make up the sum total of what Brentwood is now. You are the school. What you do and think and say — these are making the Brentwood of tomorrow. Not your attainments only. It is not given to all to do the 100 in ten seconds or to swim 50 yards in 25 4 5 seconds, or to gain a form prize or a special prize in any subject; these are all excellent in their way but do not forget what the 1st XV owes to the second XV, do not forget that the prize winners would not have reached their standards were it not for the competition of those lower in Form. No, each and every one of you is doing something to make or mar. The prizes given yesterday are rewards for effort; symbols, if you like. I like to think of them also as symbols of the strivings of those whom, in no derogatory sense, I might term the also rans. We are not all equally gifted, we cannot all be prize winners. The question is; What have you done with your one talent? The school is yet young, traditions are being built. All are helping to build or tear down — there is no static state. Look back then over your time here. If you are taking away prizes or trophies, that is good. The real question is; What are you leaving behind? If your thoughts have been: What reward? What renown? What do I get? then you have failed here and are leaving nothing for those who follow you regardless of the prizes you may be taking with you. You may remember that, in making the award of the Yarrow Shield and Medal yesterday, I referred to this award as our best material prize. We have a greater and more valuable prize to offer and every boy is eligible for it and any number may win it. That prize is the lesson of unselfishness. If you have learnt that lesson you are taking away the best we have to offer and are leaving [Page Twenty-Five]

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Brentwood College Magazine my voice, but to no avail. Then, all of a sudden, the cloud stopped dead and I shot forward like a rocket. Ahead of me I could see a circular shaped object and, as I neared it, I saw that the surface was very rugged. Could this be the moon? Its contour and aspect much resembled what I had read and seen in story books. I landed on this strange object. Was I the first person to reach the moon? I was! I WAS I jumped for joy and, to my utter astonishment, I rose a good one hundred feet, then descended. As soon as I had touched the surface I immediately rose again to the same height as before and descended with like speed. Was this to continue perpetually? I couldn ' t stop! I COULDN ' T STOP Intuitively, without hope of response, I shouted for help and was amazed to learn that my cry had attracted a most strange looking man — I call him this, since man is what he most closely resembled. I appealed to him for help and he replied that he would stop my jumping only if I promised him I wouldn ' t do it again. I promised, and immediately he pulled a nearby lever that had somehow escaped my notice. It occurred to me that this must be the man-in-the-moon. He told me to follow him and led me to a rock where he pushed a button which caused about five square feet of ground to open up before us. There was a winding stairway which he commanded me to descend. Following him for about ten minutes we came into a big room of which the fourth wall was circular and made of glass. He told me that this was the room from which he shone the light down on Mother Earth far below. I looked out and could see a remote object a great distance away. Apparently this was Earth! Without further comment he said it was just about time to turn on the light, and crossed over to the opposite wall and turned a switch. Instantly the wall lighted up with a phosphorescent glow which shone through the glass window. Then, turning suddenly, the man-in-the-moon asked if I should like to live with him, adding in a menacing tone that, whether I should like to or not, such was to be my fate. As he advanced toward me, I swiftly ran for the stairway and darted up the stairs with him close at my heels. Fortunately the exit in the rock was easily found. With gathering speed I emerged and rushed across the rugged surface. Reaching the edge of the planet, I leaped into space . . . and Raymond of the Rangers took the puck from behind his own net and crossed the blue line — a pass to McRae who skates down the ice — he ' s right in front of the net — he shoots — it ' s a GOAL!!! Score is 4 for the Rangers and 2 for the Cubs. Funny, I thought, I was certain the score was one all a few seconds ago. [Page Twenty-Four]

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Brentwood College Magazine so much behind. It does not fall to the lot of many of us to make great sacrifices. It is chiefly in the little things of life that we can make use of this gift. The boy who, through misjudgment, has run out somebody at cricket, and goes out himself to allow the other to have another knock, the boy who stays over from a week-end leave to represent the school in a swimming meet are but two of the many little acts of unselfishness that one may notice. I am not according any special praise to such actions; they should be the natural attitude of mind in such circumstances. Yes, it is in the little things that we shall be called upon to use our talents. If I may quote a verse, familiar, I am sure, to some of you: Alas then it seems that our glory Weighs less in their thoughts, Than our old homely acts And the long ago commonplace facts Of our lives, held by us as scarce part of our story And rated as nought. Unselfishness in the little things; with this goes the power of giving happiness to those around you and the right to hand on the torch in undiminished brightness. To those leaving I would like to quote another verse: At the noonday in the bustle of man ' s worktime, Greet the unseen with a cheer. Strive and thrive I Cry — Speed, fight on, fare over There as here. To those returning will be given fresh opportunities for service, fresh opportunities for overcoming difficulties for rising again after being knocked down, fresh opportunities for learning the lessons of unselfishness and for making Brentwood a better place for your having been here. [Page Twenty -Six]