Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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u X xecufiue omln iffee Robert Wahlqren, lane Brownell, William Couqhlin, Patricia Clifford, and Herbert Nagle relax for a moment before returning to a discussion about the Class of l947. l 3

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..-.---Y li 1 4- 0 7 I' , V, C2 add icem President Herbert Berman, Vice-President Claire Sul- livan, Secretary Priscilla Churchill, and Treasurer Robert lanson-LaPalnie tind time from their executive duties to pose for the photographer. l2

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lgrefiiclenf I4 .xdclcirefm By HERBERT DAVID BERMAN On behalf of the class of 1947, I extend a cordial welcome to parents, relatives, and all our guests. This graduation day is an important milestone in the lives of four hundred and twenty young people, in whose welfare you are all inter- ested, as your presence here proves. For many of us, the receiving of our long-awaited diploma, signifying our honorable discharge from Brockton High School, will be somewhat sad, for it marks the end of a pleasant period in our lives. In addition to the routine study involved in completing our courses, we shall always cherish the memory of thrilling football, basketball, and baseball games, and frequently recall our pleasant associations with classmates and faculty during our four-year journey. But now, a longer journey awaits us, for these exercises mark only the first cross- roads on the march toward that distinguished title which We all hope to deserve eventually: the right to be called an educated man or woman, awake to his obligations. Let us consider what some of those obligations are, now that we have so long enjoyed so many privileges. If you will pardon my youth, which I cannot help, and my inexperience, which I hope to remedy somewhat during the next few years, I should like to express a few simple and humble thoughts about these obligations. One of our principal duties is to choose the vocation for which we are best suited, so that we can begin to establish ourselves as efficient workers in some field of activity, or profession. When we attempt to secure a position, we shall find that the world insists on higher proficiency than our school has demanded. In fact, the world expects one-hundred percent efficiency-not merely seventy percent. For instance, if a violinist should apply to Koussevitsky, the famous orchestra leader, for a place among his musicians, the youth would certainly be dismissed promptly, un- less he played flawlessly during his audition. Likewise, a pharmacist must make no mistakes in compounding a prescription. One slight error may mean death for some unfortunate person. In order to obtain this perfection in our work, we must cultivate accuracy and perseverance, the power to remain at a task in spite of hardship and continual failure. But the task of cultivating these fine traits of character is not so easy as it sounds. It is natural to follow the line of least resistance. We enjoy doing things that do not require too much energy, mental or physical. But, to succeed in life, whether we go to college or obtain employment, we must determine our particular abilities, and then work hard to develop them. Thus we shall become indus- trious, conscientious, and proficient at whatever job is assigned us, instead of degenerating into chronic bluffers and loafers. 14