Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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26 SAMARA Who Am I? Finding myself in an unusual predicament in the first Chapter of my story and with nothing to do, I amused myself by displaying my knowledge of the centre of the earth. Four thousand miles down, I think . This interest in the centre of the earth was brought about by what I gathered was my rapid descent towards this unknown place. How- ever, I never did reach it, (being brought up short on a pile of dry leaves), but had some surprising adventures instead. The latter in- cluded almost being drowned in a salty sea, having unusual types of growing pains , listening to odd cre atures giving odder recita- tions and so on. My adventures were sud- denly ended when I found myself in the same place my story began. Who am I? Ahce (In Wonderland). Sally Trueman, V B Trial and Error I do not know how much you know about skiing but if you are at all like me, it adds up to just about nothing. Imagine then my hor- ror at finding myself standing at the bottom of a mile and a half chair lift at one of the highest points in the Laurentian Mountains. You may think that coming down a hill is hard, but it took me five minutes to gather up my courage to go up it. Once seated on the rickety green chair, though, things began to look brighter. The view was wonderful and if I did not look down or at the high posts that seemed to pop up in front of me every min- ute, it was rather fun. Finally, after reaching the forty below zero altitude, I slid gracefully oflF the seat and joined the poor imsuspecting guide who was to take our group down the mountain. He explained to us that we would not find the hill, as he put it, too steep if we did snow-plow turns all the way down. We started off and I soon found out that there is a vast difference between doing snow- plow turns on a beginner ' s hill and on the side of a mountain. I did what I considered a prize turn and found myself three inches away from some huge man who was speeding towards me. After a moment of absolute ter- ror I found that I was seated in a huge snow bank, but my fellow skier was nowhere in sight. He, lucky man, was no doubt standing at the foot of the mountain telling his friends about the crazy girl he had nearly run into. Another thing I discovered about skiing is that it is infinitely harder to stop than to start. No matter at what speed I was travelling, I would suddenly find myself completely and absolutely out of control. Tremendous bumps would loom up in front of me, people would speed towards me from all directions, and terror stricken I would shut my eyes and wait for a crash. If no such thing ensued, I would simply do the obvious. That is, I would sit down. Finally bumped, battered and beaten I ar- rived at the foot of the mountain and reached for another tow-ticket. Of course, I was going up again. Margo Freiman, V A Education For Democracy Democracy, so far in history, seems to be the only worthwhile system of free living. Be- cause it is a system of free living it requires great self-control on the part of every indivi- dual, and it is the need for self-control that makes it so difficult. To me, democracy means freedom of speech, thought and self expression through the fine arts. We are free to elect our own government as we see fit, the one elected by the majority being in power, and if for some reason it does not please, we are also free to replace it with another one almost overnight. We are free to ask questions about and investi- gate any branch of our government, national or provincial, and to suggest improvements and changes as we see fit. Democracy, there- fore, gives every man the best possible chance, and imposes no social or caste systems on its people. A man born in the backwoods can, if he has the abihty and the confidence of the

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SAMARA 25 relax and be free; to me it was the most im- portant and exciting afternoon of the week. The theatre was softly dark, huge and enveloping. At the far end I saw the stage; different lights flickered over it and echoing noises came to my ears. Stage settings were being raised, lowered and pushed into place. I slipped into a seat and watched. The manager came out of the wings and talked to the carpenter who was raising some steps to the floor. A man came through and put Gisele ' s gravestone down. Two company boys came in and, using the tombstone as a barre, practised batterie as they read Gisele ' s inscription on the tomb. The incongruity of the woodlike scene and the lounging men struck me. I stood up and walked down the side aisle to the Green Room. The dark exciting at- mosphere changed to a bright, noisy and slightly tawdry one. Tutus were hanging at impossible angles from every projection in sight. I started to change; most of the girls were already in costume for the first act. A voice floated downstairs, First act, Gisele, please , and a stampede charged silently up in answer. I went up a minute later and stood in the wings, Hmbering up as I waited. Our music began. I rose on points and ghded on stage. The soft, warm, welcoming lights surrounded me and I became part of the crowd. I like ballet and anyway it is a novel way to spend Saturday afternoon. Anonymous, VI M Elmwood dans I ' attente du bal annuel C ' est la semaine qui precede la danse. Quelle horreur! Personne ne salt quel gargon inviter. Toutes les pensionnaires veulent se servir du telephone a la fois. Mrs. Davis en devient foUe et les pauvres gar ons d ' Ashburv sont harceles tous les jours par des jeunes filles agitees demandant: Voulez-vous aller a la danse avec moi? lis n ' ont pas la moindre chance d ' y echapper. lis sont lies par I ' hon- neur et la politesse de repondre Oui, merci . Durant la semaine, a table, dans les corri- dors, dans les chambres, partout on cntend Avec qui iras-tu? et la reponse: Je ne sais pas, ou Je ne te le dirai pas . Les pauvres professeurs ne peuvent pas enseigner, car personne ne les ecoute. C ' est terrible! Mais enfin quand vient la nuit fatale, tout est oublie et Ton s ' y amuse foUement. Jane Mulholland, 6 U The Daffodil— Our Emhlem The strong green stem supports a cup of gold. And, stately it stands in a field of green Proud to be part of the world. Proud of its beauty, Proud of its life. And we? We know it as our emblem Green and gold! And, stately we stand. The school our stem— The school our cup of gold. And proud we are of our chance to grow As strong as the green As pure as the gold. M. LiNDLEY Taylor, 6 M A Letter Home Dear Dad, How if every little thing at the hou$e. Hope you are keeping well? I fufpect you could have gueffed the text of thi$ letter wa$ about my impecuniou$ pofition. Well Dad! I hope my report ha$ fuited you. Your$ $incerely, Norman. Dear NOrman: I am sorry to see you are doing NOthing about your school work. I was NOt too pleased with your last NOte but by letters one can NOt judge one ' s son. I trust in the future to see Notable improvement in your studies or NOthing will be done about impecunious position. Yours sincerely. Dad. Beverley Brown, V A

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SAMARA 27 people, become one of the most powerful figures in this country. On the other hand, a man born into a wealthy, powerful family cannot become a prominent or respected figure unless he has the ability and personality to lead. Because we are all free to think and speak as we like, we must be careful that we only say and do what we honestly believe is best for our community, and not try to secure power and wealth by unscrupulous and dis- honest means. To keep democracy safe, every man must use the best that is in him, and con- centrate on giving, not getting. To educate a person that he may be wholly fit for this way of life is a very difficult task and requires concentration on the part of both teacher and pupil. As far as school work is concerned, he must have a good knowledge of the fine arts, history and some basic sciences, as well as an awareness of what is going on in the world to-day, and of the men who gave us our religion and moral code. But beside book work a student must learn self- control and discipline, and how to lead as well as follow. It is comparatively easy to teach out of books, but to be able to teach self- control one must have it, and in order to lead one must also be able to follow. Certain rules for living are found in every community, because there is always someone who wants to have everything his way. If a person can learn to obey all rules, no matter how small, without question and at once, while at the same time offering sincere and constructive criticism for the betterment of the community, he has been well educated for life in democracy. Roberta Bradshaw, 6 M My Impression of the New World At this same time last year I was preparing to go to Canada. Eager to know about this country, I studied newspapers and reviews. One day I imagined Canada covered with apple orchards; the next day I saw Canada covered with vast fields of grain. Canada was also a synonym of snow in my mind. But chiefly I knew that twice, voluntarily, Canadians came to defend our land and give their lives to give us back our liberty. The beautiful trip began. We passed some days in Paris, we admired once again the har- monious symmetry of the buildings, the churches, such as Notre Dame . These old stones are witnesses of history. We left Europe and boarded the ship I ' lle de France , anxious to get to know this new continent. One morning New York; this enormous city appeared as in a mirage, a town of modern cathedrals. On the left stood the statue of Liberty with outstretched arm ready to spear peace for the world, I hope. Paris— New York —six days on the sea to prepare us for the violent contrast. New York impressed us at first with its tremendous buildings, the uneven skyline, the bright colours and the strong light. Everything seemed extraordinary— the beauty of the illuminations at night, the sky so high, the cafeterias very practical and the red, yellow or green taxis driven by negroes. We arrived in Ottawa at the Chateau Laurier on a rainy day. We went first of all to find our future home in Ottawa. We were not yet used to this modern town with parallel streets like New York; then we were delighted to find the Parliament Buildings with their beautiful view on the Ottawa river. During our walk, this large country with wide rivers, lakes like seas, wild and lonely places, impressed me. To understand this thrill, you have to realize that in my little country men dispute to obtain ground to till. My country is hke a garden. Fences separate every field or pasture, houses line the roads. I liked the natural beauty of your country; I liked your lakes surrounded by beautiful trees. At the end of the summer I knew a little of the country surrounding Ottawa, but still did not know any Canadians. One morning for the first time in my life, I found myself in a lovely school in the centre of a charming park. It was Elmwood. Twenty girls gave me a place in their class- room as quickly as they gave me their friend- ship. I didn ' t understand very well what you