Central Collegiate Institute - Analecta Yearbook (Calgary, Alberta Canada)

Page 17 text:

THE ANALECTA 15 PROGRESS Progress—that inexorable passing from Darkness into Light. We have dedicated this issue of the Analecta to progress with a two¬ fold symbolistic interpretation. Firstly, to progress as an ideal. To progress in its most comprehensive sense: that force by which the waves in the vast, turbulent sea of humanity hurl themselves further and further into the black¬ ness of the sands beyond; penetrating into the land of darkness; piercing the murky veils of fear, of doubt, andi of perplexity. When we leave this school to go out into the world it will be upon our shoulders that this sacred duty will rest. For the very soul of life is bound up in the individualistic striving towards the evolution of the whole, be it materially or spiritually. Secondly, we have dedicated this issue to progress because of the very tangible, indispensable part which our school—any school—plays in the realization of this aim. All achievement, and hence all progress, has un¬ questionably its embryo in the awakening of the mentality, the intensification of our analytical powers, and the development of our intrinsic ability. Dur¬ ing our years of study at C.C.I., consciously or subconsciously we have been undergoing this process. The degree to which we have taken advantage of our opportunities will necessarily determine to a certain extent our subsequent achievements and usefulness in a world seething with unrest and burdened with mighty problems. And in these days of universal turmoil and perplexity, there is a multi¬ plicity of problems which we will have to face. Economically there is the puzzling enigma of over production, with the corresponding problem of distri¬ bution. Paradoxically enough, the people are in need because we have too much wealth! Scientifically and mechanically we have reached an undreamed of height of evolution, and yet our lack of social evolution has hurled us into a pit of chaos. It is as if we had created a collosal mechanical monster without the necessary subtlies of knowledge to control it. A monster created out of steel and out of steam; with heavy sounds clanking through the air, black with the smoke of industrialism. A symbol of wealth in superfluity; a symbol of misery unimaginable. Political problems loom large in the world of today, too. Already in Europe the foundations of democracy have crumbled and autocratic dictator¬ ship has superceded it. No one will question the statement that democracy was founded on, and will continue to be preserved through education. With¬ out education, democracy is a dim, Utopian ideal; through the powers of education it becomes a living realization. The problem of the preservation of our democratic institutions is the problem of our generation, and one of- the first magnitude. The more one dwells on the conditions and problems of the modern world the greater is the realization of the need of progress, of education. For when we realize how education lies at the root of all advance, we may say in all truthfulness that Education is Progress. A mighty task awaits us, a mighty responsibility rests upon us. It is a duty that will bring glory both to ourselves and to our country. The challenge is ours: let us seize it and rise to the zenith of our possibilities! RAY MARTYNE, Editor-in-Chief.