Norfolk High School - Milestone Yearbook (Norfolk, NE)

Page 24 text:

20 THE MILESTONE. its untried fields and possibilities. With our minds alert and eager to grasp all before us in our separate paths, we steer ahead with one fixed purpose in view. Mindful of the difficulties of this voyage, the obscure fogs and treacherous tides, let us bravely battle against the tempest. The current and wind will not always be in our favor; opposing winds, contrary tides and direful storms must be encountered. We shall find that the twelve barks which glided out of the harbor together have, owing to their environments, been driven into different paths widely separated. One may, like Columbus, land upon an unknown shore, bringing to the world, not the gold and silver of a new continent, but treasures from the realm of science, which, to our modern world, are of inestimable value. Another may not be contented to roam our little world, but with eyes fixed upon the stars, will eagerly and anxiously wait for some invention which will make it possible to communicate with, or even visit the unknown beings. While our astronomer is dreaming he is awakened by the paddle of oars and at his side appears a friend who has not thus musingly dreamed, but has attained by the aid of the wireless telegraph an undreamed of possibility. All do not seek the intricate paths of science; but, rising upon the waves and striving for his ideal, each seeks the distant fields of music, art or literature. “Every song that has been sung Was before it took a voice, Waiting since the world was young, For the poet of its choice.” “Each act contains the life Each work of art the world, And all the planet-laws Are in each dew drop pearled. ”

Page 23 text:

School doors were unlocked; vacation was over; A jangling of bells invaded our ears. Children rushed down the streets and scrambled for seats— Once again there was school with its laughter and tears! Launched, but Whither Bound. AGNES MAY THOMPSON. “We are ever wishing, wishing— Wishing we were far at sea— We are ever hoping, hoping— Hoping that the wind will shift That success will crown our ventures, That the morning fog may lift.” We, the Class of ’99, have been anticipating the time when, having finished onr happy school days, we shall realize onr hopes and wishes and find as much pleasure in realization as in anticipation. This sea upon which we are about to launch our barks, is the boundless ocean of life. Our past has been for the purpose of gaining knowledge to aid us in the spring-time of this new life. Our pleasures together have been many; but, as we are about to unfurl our sails to the breeze, one by one we will glide out into the deep. Behind us lie the scenes and memories of earlier days, each with its store of learning gained. Before us stretches the new’ horizon with

Page 25 text:

THE MILESTONE. 21 Some lonely wanderer upon the sea will breathe forth to the enchanted world the song which is buried in his heart. Another with an artist genius will transform the canvas into the beautiful gold which lights the western horizon and the azure blue of the peaceful sea. Some one by the magic influence of the pen like Harriet Beecher Stowe will thrill the hearts and influence the minds of the people. Be it in the field of music, art or literature, let each hold in mind the words of our motto:— “Different Path , One Purpose.” To accomplish the most good in the world and to have a beneficent influence upon our co-laborers in this world’s toils and struggles, are our purposes. “Brave barks! Id light, in darkness too! Through winds and tides one compass guides— To that and your own selves be true. But O, blithe breeze! and O. great seas Though ne’er that earliest parting past, On your wide plain they join again Together lead them home at last. One port methought alike they sought— One purpose hold where’er they fare O, bounding breeze, O, rushing seas, Ai last, at last, unite them there.”