Jefferson High School - Archives Yearbook (Monroe, MI)

Page 91 text:

Salutatory . . . Good evening parents, faculty, and fel- low graduates. l am standing here not repre- senting myself, but in all actuality repre- senting everyone.who has achieved the ho- nor to be present. You are an individual. The persons to the right of you and to the left of you areal- so individuals. Now they are your friends, classmates, or acquaintances, but their di- rect relationship to you is irrelevant for most of them you will rarely see again. These faces will be replaced by multitudes of persons no matter where you chose to complete your lives. lf each of us can re- member, and will remember, to accept those around us for what they are worth, we can do nothing but succeed, and I am confident that we will succeed. Look around you-for the last time take a long look, and think of the good things. We could hardly wait for this moment, but now this is the moment and each of our minds is active with the thoughts of the past. This is our school-this is your school -this has been our entire world, and we know little else. But this has been merelya small pathway in the walk of life that each of us must follow. lt seemed like forever, but it was only a flash in the night, a minute seg- ment as now we are faced with the world. The future lies in our hands for we will be the principals and theteachers -for our child- ren. We will be fathers, mothers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, any number of things. We will be remembering the past and forget- ting little by little. We will be the ones who said we'd never forget our friends and the same people who will not remember a name. We will be busy people, for we have a busy world to contend with. This world isprepar- ed for us, it is calling out to us, and now we must prove to it that we are prepared for Tanya Marshall, salutatorian its ioys and its sorrows, its successes and for its failures. Yes, we have a struggle ahead of us, but it's a wonderful struggle. lt's challenging and intreguing to know that we will be individuals of our country and of our world. Millions of others have experien- ced what we are feeling tonight and they have succeeded and so shall we. Yes, Jefferson, this is good-bye. Our hearts are heavy but this will pass for they are also filled with pride. We have achieved this hour, andwewill go on to achieve great- er honors as citizens and individuals. Life will not stop with Jefferson High School, we must remember this and achieve that which each of us desires. We must realize that as we turn and depart from this assembly to- night that the undefinable world is ahead, the unknown, the enigmatic. As you walk side by side take that last look--and ponder the past, and welcome the future. But most of all as you do this, as you ponder, and as you realize your accomplishments, do this very simple thing--smile. Page 87

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Valedictory . . . As we, the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-six, approach this, the moment of our commencement, we look back, as I am sure all seniors do, upon our past four years of high school experiences. ln this some moment of retrospect, all of us, I am equal- ly sure, must be looking ahead into the fu- ture and into the challenges and the obliga- tions that face us in attaining the stations in life which we and others have set before us. We are standing at the summit of a long hill. Almost within our grasp is the goal which many times during the past four years has seemed so very far away and almost un- attainable. And now, reaching out our hand to touch it, we find that this, like all goals, is but a ethereal ideal. We find that it is not, in itself, the answer and the end. lt is but a beacon light which, having served to call us thus far along the way, now casts its beam for many days and years ahead to illuminate in shadowy,half-lightanother goal that calls to us that we must go and reach. Who knows through what paths the hand of destiny will have led us in the next twen- ty, ten, or even five years from tonight? For each of us the ways and the achievements will be different. They will vary according to our separate personalities and personal aims. For some there will be the require- ments of college and further technological study. For some it will be marriage and a family, business school, vocational train- ing or acombination of these and many more. Each separate path, each separate goal presents a challenge and requires the best that we have to offer, for in direct propor- tion to the degree of success that we real- ize will be the happiness and contentment which comes in finding ones place in life, in accepting responsibilities, and in contri- buting to a richer, fuller life for loved ones and for society in general. We knowthat we can face the challenges of our new goals with confidence and with the assurance that we are prepared to meet whatever obstacles that may lie ahead. Our page 86 Erika Robe, valedictorian high school days have taught us many prin- ciples to serve as guides through years to comes. We have learned that there is ioy and comfort to be found in meeting people, in getting to know them, and in living and working with them. We have learned that de- feat is never, in itself, an end but is a means of learning, of starting over, and of finally achieving. We have learned that there is satisfaction to be gained from ac- cepting responsibilities and performing our duties and obligations. We have learned that honesty, fair-play, and consideration, as qualifies which we admire in others, are qualities that we should strive to attainthat others might see them and admire them in us. And perhaps more than all, we have come to know that our greatest asset to our- selves and to the world lies in our indivi- duality and that blind, unthinking accept- once ancl conformity will hamper and destroy our ability to contribute that which is the best in us. We have been encouraged, taught, and given help by our parents, teachers, and friends, and now the time has come to ex- press our thanks to them for all that they have done, and with the hertiage that is ours, to stand as individuals on our own and do our best to achieve the goals which call us on. I L l r l

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Senior officers are left To right: Jean Boucirie, treasurer, Karyn Forbes, secretary, Sharon Gru- now, vice-president, Ron Myers, president. Senior class advisors, Mr. Sakel and Miss Wil cox. p age 88 Qi? wgggeim ww 5 z,, if wr? i' . A 542 if fi ,if mf are X i 'liiis riiwee