Medina High School - Medinian Yearbook (Medina, OH)

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VALEDICTORY By Maxine Snyder We are living in a great moment of history, a time of challenge to all the passion, energy, and genius of youth. There are realities to be confronted and problems to be solved that demand all the honest ability, force of character, and integrity that we can muster, plus all the training we can acquire. Dreamers used to wish for the day when the lightning and the winds would be harnessed to the machines of men, but we have gone farther than that today in centering our attem tion on a region unconquerable, even in imagination, until a few years ago; that is, the stratosphere. Tonight, let us compare our whole lives, past, present, and future to a trip into the stratosphere. In preparing for such a flight, we must design the gondola and balloon before anything else can be accomplished. Calculations must be made, ideas compared, and the advice of the experienced must be sought. Such a flight could never be made possible unless definite, accurate plans were considered. Like ' wise, we can never soar in life unless we take definite steps to prepare ourselves. Early in life we must take stock of our assets, and start the design for our growth. So far our design for growth has been a fundamental one, like the bare framework of a balloon, chosen for us by parents and teachers, but whether we make a well balanced plan for our lives depends hereafter, entirely, upon ourselves. Like the pioneer in aviation, we must bla2;e our own way. The world admires the man who has the courage to lift his head above the crowd. Whatever our work in life may be, we cannot be imitators. We may seek the opinions of the wise, but we must be independent and selTreliant. No stratosphere balloon would be a success if it were firmly anchored to something else to give it balance. The same thing is true of us. As Emerson has said: “Trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string.” The world is full of “followers”, “leavers”, and “taggers”, who are willing to walk in old paths and to have their thinking done for them; but the world is seeking the man with the original force who leaves the path and pushes into new fields — the physician who departs from the precedent of those who have gone be ' fore him, or the lawyer who conducts his case in an honest way. Each individual must design his own career according to his own peculiar equipment. Before the gondola can be constructed, a contract must be given out. In our life, society has given us a contract to fulfill. There are certain advantages and restrictions involved in our life contracts. Society has given us many duties, obli ' gations and laws to uphold, in return for which we get many protections and op- portunities. Thus far, as high school graduates, we have eaten unearned bread, learned truths without sacrifices, and have relied upon others for every idea we possess. Society expects us to make a contribution to this world in return for the start it has given us. If we fail, we have broken the contract. When the National Geographic Society and the U. S. Army Corps Stratosphere Expedition was planned, a suitable place for the base camp had to be chosen. Three considerations determined this choice: first, the point had to be far enough west to permit the balloon to drift seven or eight hundred miles to the eastward, and still come to earth in a relatively level, unforested country; second, the weather record of the region had to be promising for good summer flying; and third, the site had to be sheltered from surface winds. Wise choices and good judgment are essential in life. A person can determine his happiness and success by selecting Eighteen

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IN MEMORI AM HELEN McFADDEN In remembrance of Helen McFadden, a comrade whose memory we shall always hold dear, and a friend whose cheerfulness and enthusiasm we cherish, we dedicate this space. We write her name, and as we write, A flood of memories comes to light. Her sunny smile, her charming ways. And now — how lonely are the days ! We stood aghast — our hearts could break With all the sorrow and the ache. But rich memories I (eep her with us yet. Dear class mate — we never, never can forget, So sweet, so happy, sunny clear In memory you are always near! EUGENE BLACK To our honored class mate, Eugene Black, who, in uprightness of character, tenacity of purpose, and brightness of disposition, excelled us all, we the Class of Nineteen Thirty-Five, offer this tribute. The wise, the just, the pious, and the brave, Live in their deaths, and flourish in the grave.” Seventeen

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a good “base camp” for himself, that is, selecting the proper associates and ideals. There is a broad circumference of experience in which we cannot choose. Even so though we cannot choose the threads of life, their color, or texture, or length, the pattern that we weave is still our own. The center of life is ours for mastery, there, our sovereign will prevails. Our environment is our “base camp.” We must make it cultural to warrant suitable conditions for the preparation for our flight. We have to build a spirit of tolerance, as a protection to it so that it can with- stand the surface winds — the petty jealousies and unkind criticisms. The bag of a stratosphere balloon could never carry the gondola without the heavy steel cylinders filled with hydrogen. Likewise, we can never make a worthy contribution to this world unless we have a good strong character to pull us always upward. Hydrogen is the essential element for the stratosphere ascent, just as character is indispensable in the altitude attainment in life. As the construction of the airship progresses, a huge box carrying the balloon bag is brought into camp. Within this bag is found the force which gives the ship the power to ascend. This bag determines the height and speed of the ascen- sion into the stratosphere. In like manner, our personalities determine the speed and height of our success while our energy and ambition keep us going just as the liquid oxygen generator keeps the men in the balloon alive. As we are about to leave high school we should feel that honor demands of us that we plan our flight well so that we may give the greatest possible excellence in everything we undertake. At the very outset of our career we should make a reso- lution to stamp it with our individuality, and to give everything we do the im- print of our character as a trademark of which we may be proud. Let us make it a sign of the highest and best that is in us. Our diplomas will merely identify us as a person from whom society has a right to expect more than it can ask from others. It isn’t a badge of superiority, until we demonstrate it. When the preparations are fully completed for the trip in the Stratosphere, it is up to the pilot of the balloon to make the flight a success, as it is up to us to make our own lives a success when our preparations are complete. As Ulysses says to his friends in Tennyson’s poem: . . . my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the paths of all the western stars, until I die.” “One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” T ineteen