Midwood High School - Epilog Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 23 text:

onto past and future but mathematical conveniences, and mathematical conveniences are found to be entirely Without substance when embraced too passionately. To be able to live in the present means to be able to lose oneself completely in what one is doing, and through it, to be able to adapt oneself to and profit from any situation that arises. Past and future lose meaning, what one is occupied with at the moment becomes supreme, becomes one with oneself. Everything except what one senses or feels disappears, and all questions of purpose or aim do not arise. Do not think this is just an opiate, a means of escape. It is a true existence-where the only fact is that one is-and as such, does not need explaining, only exploring. Graduation is a turning point, a crisis. It is the time when We enter the world and have to assume the responsibilities that accompany this step. Our graduation this year will take place in a time of grave crisis, of acute political unrest. Because of that, many of us will be forced into situations which we had not anticipated, situations which may not be to our liking. That is why it is necessary to be pliable, to be able to fit oneself readily into a new medium, and be happy in that medium. The World of the intellect is an important, almost fundamental one. It is essential to growth and expansion, but it is not the only one. Nor is it the only one in which to express oneself. A person without the ability to evaluate and accept concrete things, and to make use of what is about him, may find the ground gone from under his feet when the unexpected arises. D.L. O o 0 Q Q Q OH 45 fl .Jai 19

Page 22 text:

Glrnaarnaha I do not suppose that when looking back over the various periods of our lives, we will be able to point out what exactly was the event that marked the end of one phase and the ushering in of another. Things like that usually take place gradually, over a period of time, and the line of division is not sharp. However, graduating from high school is an important occasion, and in most people's lives it is a very critical turning point, Not only does it mean the end of that sheltered existence called high school, but of greater significance, it is the period in our lives when we consciously begin to adopt a set of values to live by. These values are what determine to a large extent our future happiness. In a sense, all of high school has been merely a preparation for this. High school is the place where the opportunity is afforded us, though of course not forced upon us, to discover the realms of ideas and intellect. There, with the aid of various stimuli, one begins to turn from the world of physical interest to the sphere of things more abstract. We become concerned with questions on a plane seemingly higher than we have hitherto encountered, and develop an appreciation for the spiritual and moral aspects of life. This is all very good, and a necessary part of our progress towards maturity. However, these things sometimes assume an importance to us quite out of proportion to their actual value. There is a tendency to so overrate these newly discovered realms, and to become so devoted to them, that everything we previously held to be of worth is suddenly ignored or despised. In a way, this is as it should be and is to be expected. For these are truly vast and intensely interesting worlds, and it is only natural that we should plunge headlong into them without considering the results. But one cannot live entirely in a world of things abstract, no matter how desirable it may seem, and I personally do not think it very desirable. True, once having acquired the arts of rhetoric and logic, it is stimulating to delve into the questions of purpose, meaning and justification of existence, dispute passionately whether this is art, or this is not artf or try and reduce the complexities of modern government to a single all-encompassing maxim. But one cannot spend one's entire life immersed in this kind of emotional-intellectual bath. Besides being highly impractical, it is also unhealthy. The important thing to learn is the art of living in a real, present, every-day world. It is not hard to lose oneself in the past or future, overextending oneself into the realms of imagination and conjecture, but it is at the meeting of those two eternities, the present, that happiness is to be found. It is a pity our civilization thinks itself unable to conceive of pure present, and therefore weds itself so ardently to the past and future. For what, in actuality, are the 18

Page 24 text:

A Svvninr Brmmn Happy little Senior, fast asleep in hed, The strangest kind of notions Are going through your head. First you are El teacher, and then perhaps a dean- The weirdest things can happen- In a Midwood Senior's dream . . . l. Yes, Dear. No, Dear. Of course, Dearf' 2. And furthermore, Mr. Kaufman , . . 3. Clean off that tray, and make it snappy!