Oak Grove Coburn High School - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Vassalboro, ME)

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OAK LEAVES 1943 INVISIBLE VALUES You Who are about to receive your diplomas from Oak Grove will grasp them eagerly as something you have studied and labored for since the day you entered this School. If they were only th-e visible mor-occo case and certiiicate which your eyes see, they would be worth less than last J une's morning paper. The real values of your diploma are invisible and time- less. The direct and perman-ent Worth to each of you is in the quantity and quality of honest academic Work which you have done. But there is a deeper, more significant value in each diploma and it must be your re- sponsibility to see that that valu-e increases through you. The reason that the Oak Grove diploma has a value around the World, is. because year after year, Oak Grove Graduates have done honest and distinctive Work in col- lege and in life. You of this class who have exulted over your honors in b-eing accepted Weeks ago, and Without entrance examinations, by the lead- ing colleges of this country, must realize that even though th-e records which Went to those colleges had reported each of you as standing highest this year, yet such record here would be m-eaningless unless the standards of Oak Grove were known to be high, and unless, year after year, th-e graduates of previous classes had done a quality of scholastic Work and conducted th-eir lives with an honor that commend Oak Grove to the col- leges. You have inherited these honors and these privileges at a time in history when the progress of civilization depends upon your generation. If th-e hundreds of thousands of our boys of your age must forego their academic and professional training, then our girls must have only the more education for the research and leadership that will be needed in the terrific social and economic changes We shall see immediately after this 'titainic War. You can do nothing more lastingly patriotic than to look ahead to those needs and then Work diligently to prepare yourself to meet the demands of your day. In receiving the diploma of Oak Grove you accept a deep and lasting responsibility and challenge to so study and so conduct yourselves that no future Oak Grove girl may ever b-e denied the privileges that you are en- joying, because you failed to live up to your inheritance. When you look at this diploma in years to come, think of the loving labor of devoted teachers who have h-eld you .to high standards, think of the work and character of a long line of Oak Grove graduat-es who have given an in- visible value to your diploma, and then watch that you also hold high the ideals and standards of Oak Grove that we are placing in your hands. ROBERT EVERETT OWEN. 7

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OAK LEAVES 1943 MEASURE In a tiny pool You could jump over I saw reflected All of the sky. I wondered: Now Should one rightly measure This lovely Water By the earth that holds it? By the heaven it holds? In these days when geographical boundaries around the world are being changed in the waxing of a single moon and a Prime Minister can hold conferences on both hemispheres the same week, we must not only measure our ration points but w-e must re-valu-e life itself. Th-ere is no security in possessing coupons for ten thousand gallons of gasoline if no station has any supply, there is no comfort in unlimited means, if life itself is with- out meaning. The philosopher was wise wh-en he pondered that the tiny pool should not be measured by the earth that bounds it, lout rather by the sunshine of day and the stars of evening that it reflects in its heart. Our new adventur-es in cooperative living this year were quite inconse- quential in the mere dusting and redusting of the same halls day after dayg but that quality of character that grew in the faithful performance of unromantic tasks, that awareness to our community responsibilities that flowered as we discovered and cleaned the darker corners, that glad esprit de corps that flourished as we raked the lawrns or planted our seeds, and that throbbing, glowing happiness which filled our hearts as we stood togeth-er surveying our accomplishments, - these are the primary and eternal fruits of our labors. The medals, silver cups and honors that are awarded on Commencement Dfay are as empty and meaningless as th-e broken bauble that glittered o-n last year's Christmas tree, unless you not only did the best work in your class but the best work of which you were capable,-did it honestly and gladly. Whil-e some receive medals because they stand a mathematical point higher in actual attainment, yet there are others to whom an even more significant reward should go because they have exert-ed more effort to reach the place they have. Looking back across, the years it is revealing to see how often the girl who stood second or -even farther down the scale has steadily climbed upward in college and in life. There is ever a fascination in Yarrow Unvisited and a stimulus in almost winning. Let us measure our medal by the hon-esty of effort with which we won it and let us treasure, not the piece of metal, but rather the growth of ability and character for which it stands. EVA PRATT OWEN. 6

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