Comstock High School - Corral Yearbook (Comstock, MI)

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The Owlet 13 C1 a s s Po e m BY EMMA GARRISON A road went winding o’er the hill Passing many a nearby rill. By the sides of the road signs were placed, To remind the traveler of his pace, Of places to eat, of brands to try, Each sign spoke as he passed them by. Every one read what the signs had to say As he traveled along the right of way. Calling their message from the vacai.t lot, He heed them well or he heeded them not. Through many years the signs have stayed Fulfilling the purpose for which they were made. There are signs to be read on Life’s highway fair, For us Experience has placed them there, our Senior class is traveling this way Wo see the meaning of the signs today, We have profited much by the message they brought A worthy lesson each one taught. And we wish to leave this thought with you. May you read the signs by the highway, too. (VALEDICTORY—Continued from preceeding page.) and smooth. We need to realize that SCHOOL IS LIFE and that while a certain good may result from merely attending school and learning facts, there is a greater efficacy in studying intelligently the reason for things. This evening we pause. We consider what the passing days have been and anticipate the ’morrow. In the evening the day is yet near. After the evening shall come the night. And then breaks the dawn, brighter and brighter growing— the morning of a new day. As we have realized that SCHOOL IS “LIFE” may we in that tomorrow realize that LIFE IS A SCHOOL. Thus will we make our lives a continual growth. As Tennyson may we realize: I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untraveled world, whose margin fades Forever and forever when I move. So. together, parents, teachers, clcsrmates and friends, may we grow in the experiences of life. May we FARE WELL.

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12 T h e Owlet Ualedictory By Bernard F. Gaskill The word valedictory was derived from two Latin words: vale, meaning fare- well, and dicto, meaning to say. A special privilege is mine “to say farewell. A true farewell to the friends of our high school days must be sincere, it must show an appreciation of the associations we have had, and it must look forward to new experiences. The word farewell has taken on a sad meaning. This word which originally meant a wish that one should fare well has come to commonly mean “leave-taking. Thus are we made the victim of a word. It is only by remembering the distinction that we can gladly make plans for the future and consider our places as side by side in a new and grander experience. Perhaps the most customary thing to be said on this occasion, if one may judge from commencement speeches he has heard, is that this night marks not the FINISH but the COMMENCEMENT, and. to be strictly orthodox, I should speak about “going out into life. But this is not my message. I would not for a moment under- rate the importance of the years after graduation which have come to be known as “life. But, friends and fellow graduates, it seems as though we have “lived quite a good deal during the last four years. And since education must be a matter of individual choice, self reliance, and self determination, if it is to develop that unity which we call a personality, I must choose to speak on the proposition that SCHOOL IS “ LIFE. The past four years have, in a sense, been unproductive. We have appropriated our earnings and the earnings of others to the accomplishment of our objective. Would not all this seem unproductive when we have nothing material to show for our time spent except a sheet of paper, rolled and tied with a ribbon—our diploma? While what we have learned should have a practical value it is not always evident in a material way. Surely to complete high school requires faith in what the school has to offer, a faith which shall be “the substance of things hoped for and “the evidence of things not seen. In what has been called “life this same faith in our ability and in the goals which we ourselves have set, will mean their accomplish- ment. In school as in “life we help someone and are helped. As did Keats, we may say, Much have we traveled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen. Keat’s “realms of gold were found in books and study. The opportunity we have had for studying history, science, literature and the other subjects has taken us into many wonderful realms. And, best of all, we have had comrades,, com- panions on our journeys into these new' worlds, sympathetic comrades, companions with the same purpose as we. There is something elevated and dear in the friend- ship of those who are fellow-searchers for the goodness and the truth of life. Through ASSOCIATION we have learned how we might realize a better SELF. More are attending the high schools and colleges than ever before. Where there was one who attended high school in 1890, now there are twenty-five. Col- lege attendence has increased too, although not so greatly. There would seem to be intense enthusiasm in education today. But what is education? Upon this question everything hinges. To one, education means knowledge of business, to another, how to carry on a trade, to a third how to succeed at a profession, and to fourth it may mean a knowledge of art. Thus the idea of an education varies with the individual according to his ambitions and abilities. Our educations, good or poor are the products of craftsmen and we are the craftsmen. We are ever trying to bridge the chasm between the years of a formal education and the period which we call “life. While in school we are often led to believe that we are “the salt of the earth without which “wherewith shall it be salted. Yet it is one of the most common of jests which refers to the young graduate blissfully starting out with his diploma, and which tells of the rebuff he gets in his first attempt “in the world. Of course these stories are misleading, and any research we might quote on the sub- ject shows that more often he or she who has the formal education succeeds than does the person who has learned wholly in the proverbial school of experience. Still we need to make the transition from one to the other more natural (Continued to next page.)

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14 The Owlet Oration ATCHISON KIRK. Having completed my four years of high school, it seems I should tell you just how highly I value my training during this period. When I was graduated from the eighth grade, like other boys, I was tired of school and wanted to go to work. However, my parents had different plans which they insisted on my following. Why? They realized from personal experience that one is handicapped by a poor education so did not want me to suffer from this. Ex- perience is a dear teacher so we should profit by the experiences of others—especially of those whose interests are all centered in us. You may say Abraham Lincoln succeeded and he had no education. You are right, but did it ever occur to you that there are two things to consider when citing him as an example? One is that he was diligent, ambitious, and persistent to a point which most of us never reach in our dreams. How many of us would strain our eyes to read by the dim glow from the hearth something we could scarcely understand? Very few of us. So, although he did not have a school training, we cannot say Lincoln was illiterate. The second thing to consider is that times have changed—advanced so that Lincoln, were he living today, would be one of the multitude rather than one of the outstanding men of America. In those days they used candles; today we use elec- tricity. Then, Lincoln, the country lawyer, was seen making his way slowly from court to court on horseback but today we travel swiftly by high-powered motor cars, trains, and steamers. It has taken something besides time to produce these marvelous changes—untiring energy and knowledge. How was this wisdom gained?—from study. High school develops us—rounds us out. Here, for the first time we realize the necessity of a social side to our life, for it is not all work but some play. In school we learn how to mingle with people of all classes. We are taught what con- duct is proper on all occasions. Our personality, the one thing that is going to make us a success or failure in the game of life, is developed. We are brought into contact with other people through Debating and Athletics. In this age no one can live unto himself. Thorc.au, like others, tried it at Walden Pond but in later life admitted his failure. To maintain our place in the world we must be able to compete. In debating we learn rapidity of thought, clarity of ex- pression. and poise. All of which are necessary in the business world. Athletics make good men and women of us physically which is a great asset but that is not all. They teach us to be good sports—good losers and gracious winners. Boys and girls leave school to make money. They don’t stop to think that they are actually throwing it away. Statistics showed several years ago that the un- educated laborer made $500 a year while the high school graduate made $1,000. The latter spent at least 2,160 days in gaining this education but it doubled his earning power, making each day he spent in s liool worth a trifle over $9. Any student who leaves school and goes to work icr less than $9 a day is losing rather than gaining. If a man were offered his choice between a Packard and a Ford, there isn’t much doubt as to which he would take. Yet, when we are buying an education, most of us are satisfied with the Ford.