Coopersville High School - Zenith Yearbook (Coopersville, MI)

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Salutatory E as a class, come together for practically the last time. It is the end of our school-days together, and yet it is but a beginning. We thought when we came into high school as Freshmen that that was the begin- ning; but as we are here, to graduate, it is but a new beginning. A beginning with new and larger problems than ever before confronting us! We are so glad to welcome you, for we realize it is you who have made this evening possible for us. So in the name of the class, I ex- tend a whole-hearted welcome to you. When we think of this as a beginning—a commencement—we almost imme- diately ask ourselves—“What have I to begin with? Have I anything worth- while?” The first thing which comes to our minds is—“What ability have I?” And each will have a different answer. “What are my inclinations, my desires?” While thinking of these, we come to the great question—“Have I a character that I in no way need be ashamed of?” A great deal depends on the attitude we shall take toward questions when we leave school. A very great deal depends on whether we shall look at the bright or dark side of things—whether we become pessimistic or optimistic. There will always be tile dark clouds, but if we look rightly there will always be the silver lining behind them. There is always good in all things if we can but see it—everything, no matter how great or how small, has some good thing in it. Oftimes it is these trifling things, as we think, that bring out the best in us—develop our better self. It is not always just silver lining—it often is gold—worth that much at least to us. As Emerson has so beautifully said that in the darkest and meanest things is found the something we have been looking for. A great many times things which appeal to our outer man, our inner man shrinks from. It is indeed our testing—whether the outer or inner man wins. It will upbuild our characters or destroy them. There are many ways in which we may upbuild our characters. Brooke Herford once said—“Begin bv denying yourself, and by and by you forget yourself. The kindness which was at first just a duty, becomes a pleasure and a joy. Self-denial becomes glorified into self- forgetfulness.” Although we will acknowledge it or not, there are many .many things which influence us which we do not even stop to analize—we take them as a matter of course—may we call them “Silent Influences?” These things may be good or bad. still they influence us and become part of ourselves. It is often these silent in- fluences which determine whether we shall look upon many things in a dark or bright light. There are also the outward and visible influences, which help to de- termine our character.—And character means so much to us in these days. This generation in which we live is marvelous—so many, many golden opportunities pass by,—unnoticed,—until it is too late and then we are saddened because we have neglected them and have thought only of ourselves and not of others. A clever magazine drawing shows life as it appears to us at seventeen and seventy. At seventeen the artist believes life consists mostly of one huge “I,” and the other letters of the word being quite lost in the “I’s” immensity; but at seventy life is mostly “if”; to the exclusion of all its other parts. Too many young people make I” the largest part of life, always putting first their own desires, advancement, or opinions, regardless of the rights or wishes of others. But a life so begun is sure to have so many needless disappointments that when old age overtakes it, that life—in retrospect—will lose itself in one big “if”. “If only I had!” they say, or “If only I had not!” If at seventy or eighty we would esteem ourselves, it will Page Twelve

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Ballad of the Class of ’20 Oh, come all ye people, ye high and ye low; Come list to the song that I sing. I am the class poet and soon you will know How to catch the fleet word on the wing. I don't like to study, I don’t like to write, 1 don’t like exams, I don’t like to fight. But to scribble some jingle Or to,make up a rhyme Comprises for me A very fine time. We have studied for years To learn how to say A few nice long words In a grammatical way. It has been mighty tough As the sailing was rough, But now with pleasure untold The great book of Life With its struggles and strife Its secrets to us does unfold. For close on four years With wails and with tears We’ve struggled through oceans of books. We’ve written exams, Read of kings and old dames And figured with pothooks and crooks. Oil, geometry’s fine But it’s not in our line, With mathematics we’re all in a fuss, And history’s pages Telling of glories of ages Reads like a dime novel to us; And chemistry, say— Please take it away And bury it deep it the sea; And physics—oh, boy, Possesses no joy But seems most like Chinese, say we. Our class it is best As we all stand the test And I’m sure that you all will agree As we stand up and fight For that which is right Well known we certainly will be. As we strike out alone Through the toil of this zone Each struggling class on the way May follow our path As we lay down our staff And look forward and long for the day When they, too, will pass From the school house and class To less joyful and frequented way. My task it is done And the race almost won And in tempting the Muse as you see, Mv pen’s almost dry So I’ll bid you good-bye And hope you’ll be easy with me. Wayne Murray, '20. Page Eleven

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pay us at seventeen or twenty to make “I” a little less prominent. That is one great reason why we should be careful about the things which help to build char- acter. We are in this golden era, and we must be a part of it, we want the very best in us to influence others,—not the worst. The motto of our life should be “Others—not Self ’ Remembering, too, that while it isn’t always the easiest thing to do, yet there is a bright lining to the dark cloud. It would seem to some of us that there wasn’t much in us—not much that would influence others—not much that could possibly help others—still when it comes to the test we will not be missing, and then our true worth becomes known. A person remarked as a group of gay young people passed by—“There doesn’t seem to be much in that crowd.” His companion replied—“No, there doesn’t on the outside, but you know it takes the night to bring out the stars.” It isn’t always the person who does the big things, it isn’t always the person who says the most, but often the person who says the least and does the small and seemingly insignificant things who truly is the greatest.—Indeed it takes the night to bring out the stars! The bright and worth-while things, the beautiful things, aren’t always found when the birds are singing or the flowers are budding — when Spring is in the air, but again quoting Emerson, they are found in the mud and scum of things and there it is that some- thing alwav, alway, sings. And then when we come again to the great theme—character—we must always remember—never during our whole life forget—that there always exists that great Law of Compensation.—“With that measure with which ye mete, it shall be meas- ured unto you again.”—and that great law never fails. So it remains for us to develop all our God-given powers to the very best of our ability. One day I happened to notice this striking sentence in a large building in Chicago—“Be Somebody and I)o Something.” We should aspire to be somebody, to possess strength of character, independence of purpose, ambition, self-respect. It follows as a matter of course that one who is a Somebody will do Something. He will not be willing to fritter away his energy on nonessentials. He will help those weaker than himself to see the bright lining of the dark clouds. He, too, will count one in every contest where right is matched against wrong. To be Somebody and do Something; that gives scope for the ambition of the most aspiring. And yet no human being made in the Divine image should be content with less. With this in mind, may we as Seniors of the Class of 1920 go forth to be n Somebody, and to do Something—to help someone along this road of life—always remembering that great Law of Compensation and the bright lining to that dark cloud as expressed in that wonderful poem of Emerson’s called “Music”— Let me go where’er I will I hear a sky-born music still, It sounds fiom all things old. It sounds from all things young. From all that’s fair, from all that’s foul Peals out a cheerful song. It is not only in the rose, It is not only in the bird. Not only where the rainbow glows, Nor in the song of women heard,— But in the darkest, meanest things. There alway, alway, something sings. ’Tis not in the high stars alone, Not in the cup of budding flowers. Nor in the redbreast’s mellow tone, Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,— But in the mud and scum of things. There alway, alway, something sings. Jennie Hinken, '20. Paj?e Thirteen