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

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VALEDICTORIAN ADDRESS I feel great honour and much pleasure in speaking on behalf of the graduating class on this the final day of the academic year 1978 79. Furthermore, I thank my class mates for electing me to ' speak as their representative. The year has gone by like a bird on the wing. Although one or two of us have dropped out along the way, most of us have made it to the end. We ' ve had a good year. We worked hard in the classrooms, as a unit on the playing field, and indeed within all aspects of school life. Almost every event ran smoothly, even the burning down of Whittall House, which was made possible by the operations of an excitable Chemistry student. I know we have benefitted a great deal from the school, more than we possibly could have from any other. Not only have we received closer attention in the academic field, but also we have experienced the kind of social and athletic involvement that so many young people abandon for the security of the twentieth century television. The house staff and faculty must be thanked for all the time and effort they have given our class in solving personal problems, in winning athletic competitions, and in passing examinations both internal and at the provincial scholarship level. I know my class mates realize the value of this type of training and I hope that someday we will give our children the same opportunities. We are all glad to go I ' m sure, some more than others, but when we stop and think for a while, an element of sadness creeps in for this is the last time we shall ever gather again as a whole. We have learned to live together in the sometimes tense boarding school atmosphere and many close friends have been made of teachers and students. Now we must part. It may be for years, it may be forever. The school though, shall live on and the torch will be carried, as the school ' s motto says De manu in manum, from hand to hand. So, from all the Graduating class of 1979, I wish the best of happiness and good luck to the college and those who follow after us. I would like to close with a most touching quotation from the English poet, Lord Byron, one which expresses my feelings and those of my classmates fully: Fare thee well! and if forever, Still forever, fare thee well. Blair F. Crawford. June23, 1979 10