Catholic Central High School - Banner Yearbook (Fort Madison, IA)

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Q his own hands. A thousand different plans face him. He may decide to fit himself better for life by a college education, or he may desire to fall into some line of occupation and there seek advancement by hard work and study. The problem lies not so much in what he does, as in doing what he is best fitted to do. Let us use our imagination to bring out the point more clearly. Suppose that the students of the graduating class of 1928 of Catholic Central High are assembled for commencement exercises, the last, great, never-to-be-forgotten meeting as a class. They can be heard discussing the many things they have learned, the good times they have enjoyed, how this basketball game was won or that football game was lost, in fact, everything that has helped to make their high-school life a full one. Now everything is quiet. The diplomas are about to be presented. Suddenly, a great voice booms out from somewhere addressing the graduates: My dear students, if you could choose now the occupation you would like to be engaged in in ten years from today, what would it be? Then after a few moments, What experience have you had or what leads you to be- lieve that you have sufficient ability to succeed in this kind of work? The students now seem to be seriously considering the fact that ability takes them where they should go. How important to each one of us then should be the matter of increasing our ability by broadening our education along some certain line of work, instead of feeling that the world owes us sr living on the strength of our present knowl- edge. It is up to us, no one can do it for us. Practical experience alone can teach us just what is the kind of work we can do best, just what is our place of largest usefulness in the world of today. But, no matter what occupation we set as our goal ten years from today, there always seems to be before us the warning Education can never end, for as we learn, we advance. All about us in every-day life we meet with people who would try to make ns believe that the fields requiring higher education, are overcrowded. Even though they are, we have every reason to believe that there is always room at the top. In every branch of industry the call for service can always be heard. Consider, for exampie,,the transportation industry, the key and great chain joining and making possible all other forms of industry. The trans- portation systems for which our country is noted, alone offer vast fields for advancement. We have every reason to believe that the steel wheel running on the steel rail will continue to exist and grow as the chief means of trans- portation. Truly a great story, that of the progress of our rail systems. This is just one example. But, no matter which way we turn, we can find ever pres- ent an abundance of work that calls for men of service, men with ability to keep the ball rolling. Sometime during life each one of us will look back through the years that have gone never to return. Memory will recall fond recollections of by-gone hours, high lights in our lives, opportunities which we have taken or passed up, which step by step have made us what we are today, be it good or bad, rich or poor, a success or a failure. It is in view of these facts that a man will make himself and knowing that he has done justice to his opportunities, others will do likewise. A Yes !, boys and girls of the class of '28 and all classes to follow in the years to come, it is truly Up To Us. -GILBERT S. KESSLER, '28. THIRTY-FIVE

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IT'S UP TO US Take this, my boy. and remember it long Though now it may strike you as funny, A job with a chance to improve and advance Is better than one that pays money. Take a hint from an old man who's traveled the way just need to his counsel a minute, There's a job that may pay you five dollars a day But that's all there will ever be in it. Don't look at the cash as so many boys do Take a look at the long years before youg See how much you can learn, not how much you can earn And the place which the future has for you. Can you rise from the post where they'd have you begin? How far will this humble job take you? These are questions to ask, they pay well for the task, But what sort of a man will it make you Oh, many a boy has begun with a rush And has grabbed for a man's wages blindly, Now he sticks as a man at the post he began, And thinks life has used him unkindly. So look for a job with a future ahead, Seek a chance to grow greater and greater, Seek a place where you know as you work you will grow. And the money will come to you later. -EDGAR A. GUEST. What is our place of largest usefulness in every day life, in the business of keeping the wheels of industry moving? There are a thousand little places to one big place. Naturally one would be led to believe that the scramble would eventually be for the few big places. But we need only look out into the world about us to discover that the scramble is for the little places, the places easy to get, any place to make a few big round dollars. Be that as it may, we have one really important fact to face-every one of us has a life to invest. God having given me this one life to invest, how shall I invest it? This should be the im- portant question uppermost in the mind of every student about to step out into the work-a-day world. Surely, we all have a common goal, that of making good our investment. It should indeed be encouraging to us to know that we are needed and that each one of us has an important part to play in the game. Every one of us without exception can assign himself to a task worthy of his greatest efforts. However, success can not always follow first attempts. Going up in life, means going up in our thinking. Schools and colleges were not instituted to teach pupils mere facts of books, but to teach them to think. Napolean conquered nearly the whole world, not because he was phy- sically more able than other men, but, because he thought. The student graduating from high school must realize as he steps out into the world of fame and fortune, that his destiny which he cannot dodge is in THIRTY-FOUR

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' TO THE CLASS OF '28 The world is moving, spinning, four times as fast as before, opportunity is changing its password every dayg time is closing its portals on our last year of C .CQ H. education. The outgoing tide places us shoulder to shoulder with the sons of privilegeg the barriers are down, we are entering a new era, which has cancelled the lie of vested rightsg and, given us the privilege to use our men- tal ability. Our predicament is akin to that of Lincoln: When will the op- portunity arrive to voice our inward power? Opportunity is not a fixed phenomenag-it exists wherever there is a trained mind to establish it. As knowledge unused passes from the mind, so opportuni- ty will also pass, if we do not use our initiative and apply every ounce of our learning to establish our independence. Each one of us at this time possesses the power to draw up our own dec- laration of independence, and whether in the future we shall be dependent or in- dependent, will depend upon the application of our four years of high-school education. The coming years Will mark great progress and growthg but this will be based solely upon intricate value and worth. The future will mark and demand leadership of a high order. It will demand men and women of vision and training to direct and adjust to new conditions and ideals,'the vast economic machinery of our country. What we have done during the past four years to build up brain-stuff and what we shall undertake in the future in order to use this God-sent privilege, is up to us. - Again a definite plan-possible of accomplishments, but not too easy, must be made and adhered to for the good of the mind and the will, and for the attainment of our ends. As graduates of C. C. H. S., we are prepared for leadershipg we have as- sumed a definite obligation both to ourselves and to the futureg to be ready and worthy of the opportunities and rewards that the world offers to its leaders. So at this mile-post of our career, we are urged to remember our obliga- tionsg to let no temporary or unprofitable distraction turn us aside from the real goal we have set for ourselves, and be that goal near or far, the application of our knowledge will be the impressions left on the sands of time. -N. J. ROSE. The grace of friendship, mind and heart Linked with their fellow, heart and mind, The grains of science, gifts of arts, The sense of oneness with our kind, A thirst to know and understand A large and liberal discontent, These are gifts in life's rich hand, The things that are more excellent. -N. J. Rose, '28 . ',,h,,v 7 THIRTY-SIX