Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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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

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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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28 SAMARA said but you had patience to speak to me slowly. During the week-end at Mont Tremblant I discovered and enjoyed mountain life, the pleasures of skiing, but chiefly the happiness to know you better. Before I finish, let me thank you very much, Mrs. Graham, teachers and all the girls for your charming welcome. I am very happy to hve with you in your beautiful country. Colette Muuls, VI M Description Standing on the crest of the hill and look- ing at the surrounding country, I realized for the first time how extremely beautiful our ranch really was. The neat white-washed log buildings with their red roofs and large cor- rals lay in a valley bordered by precipitous bush-clad hills. Now, as I looked up the twi- light-covered valley towards the west, I saw the multi-coloured rays of the sunset spread across the horizon. Beyond the ranch, several palomino horses outhned against the darkness of the trees, looked strangely ghostlike as they moved along toward the creek where they watered each evening. Turning once more, I watched a full red moon make its way over the hills up into the sky. Suddenly, a mourn- ful howl rent the air, and a lone coyote ap- peared silhouetted against the moon. Night had come once more in the west. Frances Wood, V A Something To Remember It was a cool frosty October evening and I was walking aimlessly down a narrow coun- try path. Where it led I knew not and cared not so long as I could outwalk my problems on it. I was meandering along when suddenly in front of me there was the quaintest church I have ever seen. It seemed almost like a shrine alone there in the wilderness. As I walked towards it, I noticed that in spite of its crudely hewn stone exterior it had very beautiful stained glass windows. The church, being dimly lighted inside, lit up the windows so they alone stood out, and the grey stones were part of the dreary grey of the evening. As I stood there looking at the windows in quiet amazement, a clear high voice rang out from inside the church; it was singing part of The Messiah . Then as I walked slowly toward it, I noticed that the doors of the church were open, and I found myself walking in. The first thing I saw was the altar with its gold cross. Just below there was a basket of beau- tiful wild flowers. I looked slowly around and saw the pews, the pulpit, the organ. The presence of God was certainly in this humble country church. Minutes later I left the church and resumed my walking. This time it was not an aimless walk but a brisk and energetic one. My mind was quite at ease and all my problems solved. Rosemary Findlay, V C Working Backstage Working backstage has always given me a special sort of feeling. It is hard to say just what sort of feeling it is, but I suspect that excitement is at the bottom of it. Anyway, it is a very good feeling. Perhaps one of the actresses will tell you that she experiences something wonderful when she is on stage, under the lights, leading the audience deep into their own imaginations. Probably she does. I do not know. I just work backstage. But this is not my feeling. However, the actress and I both have one thing in common; we both get the same ting- ling of excitement and nervousness as the pro- ducer, with every one of his emotions at highest pitch, quietly and meaningfully whis- pers, Curtain going up! For him it is a big night, too. Out in the darkness, beyond the heavy plush curtains, hundreds of unknown souls are sitting ready to be carried away to far-distant lands. But they will be critical, too. We will soon know if they are pleased with the sets we have been working on, far into each eve-