Dobson High School - Dobsonian Yearbook (Dobson, NC)

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1901 FRIENDS , Until you prove yourself in a community, you will be judged by your friends and by their deeds and by the impressions others have of them. This is a reasonably accurate criterion for in a free and mobile society, we usually are drawn to people who have similar tastes and desires. You will, as time goes on, make relatively few deep and lasting friendships. They will last only if tliey are based on mutual respect and understanding. Friendship is something that can never be bought. It must be earned and earned constantly through consideration, sincere interest, and the giving of yourself, oftentimes at personal sacrifice. In friend¬ ship, dependability takes precedence over ability. In a democracy you pick your own friends. That is as it should be. You should, however, take time to chose wisely, and I should hope that you could contribute something to the well-being and pleasure of your friends and that they could reciprocate. I I YOUR FINANCES . Generally speaking, in our country, a man to be self-respecting, must be self-supporting. There is no freedom without responsibility and that applies to economics as well as political doctrine. I have seen happy people with very little more than the bare necessities of life, materially speaking. I have seen unhappy people who had accumulated great wealth. But I have never seen a happy person, be he rich or poor, who had a steak appetite and ahumburger income. If you want something you must also ask yourself if you are willing to sacrifice the time and effort to buy and take care of it. There is an axiom that adults learn --but often too late --and that is that it may be good business to go in debt to buy things with a permanent value, such as land, houses, or securities (and, of course, education falls in this category), but it is almost always bad business to go in debt for things that are fleeting and once consumed have no further value. Live within you income and save a reasonable amount of what you earn. If you were to start now putting aside 10% of your income or allowance and invest it in good stocks, you would be surprised at the way your estate would grow. If you adopt this 10% rule and keep it inviolate, you will have a comforting reserve when hard times come, and believe me they come to us all at one time or another. PLANNING AHEAD . They used to say circumstances make the man. Today the word is Men Make Circumstances. You should be sure of what you wish to do, then you should go resolutely forward in that direction. Remember that the way you walk a mile is to take the required number of steps. Greatest progress comes not from spurts and stops but rather from steady, consistent effort. The only way you can make steady, consistent progress is to plan ahead, not just day by day but year by year. Modern businesses, for example, require their executives to plan at least five years ahead and to make such a plan each year. This establishes the goals and also drives home the point that it takes consistent, steady effort to attain those goals. How you plan your work and use your time is important but not nearly as important as that you do it. In planning ahead keep in mind that it is a human failing that we all like to anticipate success, acclaim, and leadership. We do not look forward with the same zest to the work and the effort that has to go in attaining our goals. The weak point of most plans is the tendency to wait until tomorrow to put the unpleasant pajrf of the plan into effect and to be impatient for the benefit to descend upon us. So endeth the message from the Class of ' 26 to the Class of ' 61. , Y ' Up until now you have been building castles in the air -- that is where they should J?e -- now put foundations under them! pig’rg sttrg our class to matcl] lljcm rmfel ' aspire.

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A MESSAGE TO THE CLASS OF 1961 - DOBSON HIGH SCHOOL From Roy H. Park, Class of ' 26 President, Hines-Park Food Company, Ithaca, New York Thirty-five years have elapsed since the Class of ' 26 was graduated from the Dobson High School. That is a long time -- half of man ' s expected three score and ten years. As I look back over this period, however, I can ' t help but be impressed by the rapid changes and developments that have occurred. It has been a period during which man has con¬ quered the air and is now well on the way to conquering space. It has been a period when we have seen great strides in industry, education, agriculture, and in the living standards of all the people. It has been a period when state boundaries became as close to us as counties, and national boundaries became as close to us as state boundaries used to be. It has been a period of great opportunity and many of the graduates of our 1926 Class have gone on to take full advantage of these opportunities and achieved distinction in the fields of law, education, medicine, agriculture and homemaking. I am happy to have been asked to prepare a message from the Class of ' 26 to the Class of ' 61. I wish itwere possible for me to give you in this message tlie key to success and happiness and service for the rest of your lives. I can ' t do it because no one knows the true answer. Even if I could tell it to you it would be so simple you would receive it with disbelief. For what it may be worth, however, here are six guide-posts that may be of some help to you in planning your lives and making your day-by-day decisions: TIME . Of all things at your disposal, the most important and the most precious is time. Each of us has a given amount -- and it is never quite enough. In youth, time moves too slowly. In later life, it speeds by and we know we will reach our final destination too soon for us. How you use that time, how you arrange it to take full advantage of every minute, is one of the most important arts you can master. And I do not mean that you should use all of your time in work and in self-improvement. You should take some of your time and use it for the fun of living. Do just what you want to do for the joy of doing it. But don ' t kill time by indecision or waste. In fact, you cannot kill time, it moves constantly. All you can do is move forward with it or stand still while time marches on. HEALTH . If you are going to make the most of your time, then you must be in good health, eager to enjoy the fullness of life. Most of us start out as reasonably healthy individuals. Some remain that way for most of their lives. Others never fully enjoy the hours that God has given to them because tliey are sleepy, they feel bad, or they are physically or mentally upset. I believe any doctor would tell you that the key to good health is moderation in eating, in exercise, in drinking, in work, and in pleasure. CHARACTER . What you do with your time here on earth will depend on your character. I do not hold that character is molded fast in the early period of life. It changes as we go along, for good or bad, and it is the responsibility of the individual to make constructive changes as he develops. Character is a lot of things. It is the ability to be right and say No when it would be easier and more pleasant to say Yes. It is the willingness to hold fast to your beliefs when they are not popular with the crowd. This does not mean that you have to impose your philosophy or creed on others. It does miean that you should not be swayed by popular acclaim. Character is the desire to be self-reliant, pay your own way to individuals and to society as a whole. It is dependa¬ bility. It is that force that .keeps you going when weaker souls give up the cause. chnlar, Bnctnr, ILafoott, JHtrclianl Olliitf.

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Many years ago Chaucer ' s pilgrims wended their way to Canterbury and served to liven up the way by telling tales. Today we seniors wend our way toward graduation, and the members of the other classes wend their way toward life in a new school. May these pleasant tales of our activities here serve to liven up our pilgrimage and to remind us ever of the happy days spent in fellowship at Dobson High School.