Elmira Free Academy - Torch / Sagoyawatha Yearbook (Elmira, NY)

Page 8 text:

.Miss Helen Hibbard We all regret the retirement of our friend and teacher, Miss Helen M. Hibbard. A graduate of Elmira College, she joined the Academy faculty in 1502. Since 1916 she has been head of the Mathematics department, as well as student guidance director. In recent years those of us who have come in contact with her, know her best as girls’ adviser. Miss Hibbard will always be highly esteemed by the graduates of the Academy because of her genuine interest in each student, her human understanding, tolerant good humor and never-failing tact. During the years to come the memories of her work will serve as an inspiration to many discouraged people. The Class of ’39 has been privileged to have Miss Hibbard as a teacher and fellow friend. Our sincere wishes for her happiness are only a small part of the joys we hope she may realize in the future years.

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To the Class of 1939: You as well as I, will leave the Academy during 1939. Although we are leaving under conditions so unlike, I am sure that we have very genuine feelings in common: a deep, abiding affection for dear EFA with its traditions and achievements; and gratitude for the opportunities it has offered for making lasting friendships — and gaining glimpses into new avenues of thought and action. It has been a privilege to have known and worked with so many of you and to have come to realize that such a goodly number are facing the future with high ideals. I am grateful for this opportunity to wish you god-speed. I would like to help you realize your hopes but only very trite thoughts persist in recurring to my mind. My consolation has to be that “there is nothing new under the sun” and that man’s develop- ment is accomplished by “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.” The abundant life, for which you all hope, must present many phases to you. Whether you are think- ing of success in your chosen vocation, the making and keeping of friends, or service to the community in which you live, the way will not be easy. To reach your goal, it will take hard work and the doing of many things that you will not want to do. Your success in life will depend on your value to other people, not to yourself. To that end you must be diligent in cultivating courtesy, thoughtfulness for others, efficiency, dependability and many other virtues, until they dominate your personality. Remember that you will not be liked just because you are you, but for the pleasure you can give and the service you can render. The by-product of your efforts is sure to give you real satisfaction. Some years ago I heard a well-known physician say that one of the chief differences between man and beast lies in the degree of adaptability that each possesses; that the highest type of man is the one that can adapt himself to the greatest number of circumstances. A man of such stature would have to have a well-governed body, a trained mind, a courageous spirit, and a sense of values that would enable him to meet success without arrogance, and failure without despair. You might well say with the psalmist — “It is high. I can not attain unto it.” However, I wish for you high aims and a great degree of attainment. HELEN M. EIIBBARD

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FACULTY