East Providence High School - Crimson Yearbook (East Providence, RI)

Page 15 text:

O those of us who have witnessed a number of graduation programs there is something a bit trite about commencement oratory and messages to senior classes. Nevertheless, I am going to risk a few words to you, the members of the class of l937, with the thought that what I have in mind is perhaps just obvious enough to have been over- looked by some of you. The boy or girl who has a particular skill or aptitude as the results of natural endowment is very fortunate. The boy or girl who has no such gift but who has acquired proficiency in some field through strenuous application is also fortunate. As teachers we have looked back over the records of our grad- uates and we have found ample evidence to support the contention that success in the classroom is one of the best criteria for determining later success. We have on occasions, however, observed that certain unpromising people, when faced after graduation with the stern necessity of getting along, have learned the value of application and have gone on to do outstanding work. Naturally the ideal that all schools aim to achieve is to bring all pupils as quickly as possible to the realization of the joy and profit of work well done. Thousands of young people are graduating this month from the secondary schools of this small state of Rhode Island. Hundreds of thousands are being sent out from high schools throughout the country. The number is far in ex- cess of anything that the people of a generation ago ever dreamed of. All of this leads to one simple deduction. The average high school grad- uate is at least as well educated as the average graduate of thirty years ago. How- ever, the law of supplyiand demand operating here as everywhere has reduced the dollars and cents value of the high school diploma. Colleges, technical schools, hospitals, and business houses, thoroughly aware of the greater var- iation in the abilities of high school graduates, are filling their ranks on a highly selective basis. Just what should this mean to you as a member of the class of 1937? Soon vou will be striving for a place in the economic life of your community. De- spite the fact that a great deal of legislation is being formulated to improve the status of the worker, and despite the fact that jobs are to some extent given out on other grounds than merit, you are living in a highly competitive society. Your chances of a satisfactory place in it will depend largely on your willing- ness to plug along and earn recognition. Graduation from high school, college, or even university cannot guarantee anyone anything. Nor can diplomas or degrees mean the end of study, When you have learned that the successful men in business and in professional life are students throughout their lives you are in a fair way to direct your lives ac- cordingly. James E. Bates