Columbus High School - Cohiscan Yearbook (Columbus, GA)

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mined by many things which enter our life unconsciously, by fac- tors beyond our control, by inborn instinct which heredity and environment alone can determine. It doesn't so much matter whether we are humble mill workers or whether we are as great as the president of our country, we can all be the man we ought to be regardless of what occupation we follow. It doesn't matter whether we are a minister of the gospel or a soldier in the army, a painter as was Raphael or a poet as was Milton, a philosopher as was Locke or a singer as was Caruso, a ruler as was Caesar or an apostle of Christ as was Paul, we can all be the man We ought to be. And yet he is the same. There are certain uniform qualities which he must possess in common with us all, among them the fol- lowing: First, he must be reliable. If he is given a certain task to perform and he fails thru utter neglect and procrastination, then is he the man we ought to be? No, he is not. Second, the man he ought to be must not be selfish. He can- not seek for individual honors and powers. What he does must be for the good of his fellow-man. Third, the man we ought to be must be honest. How many of us would remain uncontaminated by the sin of dishonesty if temptation stared us in the face? We Americans have an ex- ample of honesty in one of our great presidents-in fact acclaimed by some to be the greatest-of whom we should be proud and brag and boast to everyone we meet. He, who died for his cause, he, who was of the Union and for the Union, yet whose heart was torn for the South, he, whose policy to the South was the most mag- nanimous of any president, he, who was the most offended by the Southg he, who was shunned,,despised, and misunderstood by the South, yet who loved the South as a Southernerg he, who entered the state which elected him to Congress, barefoot and driving an ox and who became the idol of every American-he, a man for the ages. And permit me to say, ladies and gentlemen, that if I know of any example of the man we ought to be, it is of AbrahamLincoln.

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THE CLASS DAY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENIOR CLASS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO Members of the Faculty, Classmates and Friends of Columbus High School, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am encumbered with confusion, perplexity, misgiving, anda. very severe case of cold feet in being the first to cast the firebrand into this peaceful assemblage, which has up to this time been en- joying itself so much, but I count myself happy, most happy in- deed, because I have the honor of welcoming you to share the pleasures of this day-our day. This day is the day of days for us Seniors, the day we have hoped for, prayed for, and looked for- ward to ever since we have heard those wonderful, stimulating, and inspiring Words- CLASS DAY. We feel honored not only in being Seniors and in having our day, but also, judging from your presence, in having many friends, relatives, and loved ones who are deeply interested in us, our ac- tivities, and our welfare. Not yet have we attained that ideal which you, our friends and relatives, desire for us, but I trust that throughout the years that we have spent in the Columbus Public Schools We have had this ideal in mind: Somewhere down the years he is waiting for you-- The man you ought to be. And when shall we find this man- The man we ought to be? Who knows? Some of us may find him sooner than others, some of us may not be so fortunate, indeed some of us may never find him. Vfhy not? Because We shall not try hard enough, for he is always there waiting patiently, silently for each and every one of us. This is the purpose of our High School, the purpose of our every effort, the purpose of our life-to find the man we ought to be. What sort of person is this man we ought to be? He is dif- ferent for each of us, and yet the same for all of us. He is deter-

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A 5 . ,...............-... ..i,........... if Ziff x ...... ,....-......................, .ff Z ,. How many of us would have been as honest as Honest Abev? How many of us have that quality of honesty which is so essen- tial in the man we ought to be? How many of us have enough of these essential qualities to start on our quest of the man we ought to be? And so, ladies and gentlemen, I could go on nam- ing qualities without end which are essential to the man we ought to be. Would that I were a seer, a prophet and could foresee the fu- ture. Would that each of us could see his future as it will be, would that we could see the obstacles and barriers that will con- front us and could begin to prepare ourselves to meet and over- come these, would that each of us could know where to find the man we ought to be! Then would not life be as glorious as sail- ling on a calm sea? No, it would not. If we knew where to find the man we ought to be there would be no man we ought to be, for life is nothing but the test to find this much-sought-after per- son. But what is the man we ought to be? The answer in short is this: the man we ought to be is our life's reward. The pur- pose of this High School is to help us to find this man, to fit us for the battles we must win in life, to better acquaint us with the ways and means of overcoming obstacles, to train us so that we may take our place in the rank and file of the great American working army, and lastly, to start us on the highway of life in a direction that will lead us straight to our goal! How Well do I remember four years ago when I first. entered this schoolg I had all sorts of fantastical ideas of what my future should be. I built air castles and saw myself an artist-a poet-a grand opera singer-a millionaire-and I Well remember that when a wee little tot the height of my ambition after I had finished my first ride on a trolley car was to be a conductor and help the pretty ladies off and on the car. How many of you have built air castles? How many of you still build air castles and have dreams which you hope to see realized?