Kalona High School - Centerika Yearbook (Kalona, IA)

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Reminiscences In the loneliest part of a small Tennessee valley stands a desolate, forsaken house. Its small green shutters hang limply on their hinges and the creak- ing old door stands open. Inside this house cobwebs may be seen anywhere. A musty odor fills the house. Its walls and ceilings are stained with the rain which seeps through the cracks everytime it storms. An old fireplace in the far corner shows signs of crumbling. This house was not always so unhappy for years ago it had spent many a happy day watching and sheltering an old man, his wife, and four curly head- ed children. Those were happy days and the o!d house would often smile to itself as it watched this happy little family. Its roof and windows wer= always decorated with roses. But since then the family moved to town and left the house alone in the valley. If one listened closely he could often hear the house sigh or sob as it looked at its tattered doors and windows, all the time thinking of the happy days gone by. You won’t let your house be sad, will you? Bee Ye 4 Ou Graduating On May the fourteenth a great event will take place in the lives of eight people. An event for which they have toiled four years and to which they have looked forward with great anticipation. To them, in their fancies, it was to be a great day, a sunshiny, flower bedecked, gloriously happy day—a day when labor and realities would cease and life would begin. These were their dreams. Reviewing the four year’s course, would any of us have believed then that our dreams would soon be forgotten, that life did consist of reality? That inevitable day draws nigh. Some will be glad, others will regret the ending of the course. On that mor- row we are our own. Do any of us know what re- sponsibilities, what troubles, what happiness, joy, or sorrow that we shall have to face? We have pre- pared to live. Soon our preparation period will be over. A question comes up—Are wo prepared enough to bear life’s burdens? For my part, I am glad that the course is end- ing. On the morrow our opportunity comes to help others to more of life’s abundance. Surely if each of us can remember that our lives were lent for noble deeds, we can be glad for the commencement. Should we aim for success? Shouldn’t we aim more for serving humanity? If we can find joy in help- ing others, surely life cannot be so great a problem as we might have thought. I also regret the course’s ending. I remember my great-grandfather saying when I was a very PAGE 24 small child, ‘“‘These are the young years of your life and they are the best, so make the most of them.” On the day when I receive by high school diploma, childhood has ended. No more can I dream for plea- sure, no more can I dream of great palaces and courtyards, no more can I dream of long travels, of visiting my ancestral land—beautiful Ireland. My childhocd has ended. At the present America stands on the verge of a great crisis. But America has a far greater prob- lem on her own back door than the political prob- lems which form an international puzzle. America must moralize her pecple. If one looks around him, he may well see that the American people are too flippant, too emotional and impulsive. They let their liberties lead them in “the way of the world.” They lack a good backbone. No longer do you hear boys hoping to grow up to be president of the United States. Instead, they want to grow up to have fun. The question is: Can democracy stand without someone backing it up and can it remain for peopte who care little for it, other than that they can do as they please, without it demoralizing the rest of the world? It is a point we must vitally consider. We are eight. If we can go into the world of tomorrow, not for getting alcng alone, but rather to help humanity, then, aren’t the sacrifices made for our education worthwhile? BM. E48

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