Petaluma High School - Trojans Yearbook (Petaluma, CA)

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THE ENTERPRISE ’20 increase the length of the radius of his life, the only other essential necessary is faith in one’s ultimate victory. With this -thought held tenaciously and intensely, one will soon see things coming his way. The positive man uses as his motto “I can,” the negative man “I can’t.” 66 Faith will move mountains.” The man who does not believe in something and believe in it with all his heart is not worth much. Orison Marden says, 6 ‘Don’t be afraid to think too highly of yourself. If the Creator made you and is not ashamed of the job, certainly you should not be.” With dissatisfaction born of ambition we will go forward and place a circumference around the outermost circle, and by daily work we will strive to keep our predominance. In doing this we will have the satisfaction of having met the thing and done our best, which after all, recalls to the mind that the chief value of a great and pro¬ longed struggle is oftener in the effort than in the achievement. EARL GRAY, ’20. • 26 —

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T II E ENTERPRISE ’2 0 must sooner or later confront us, namely that “Character is Destiny” and “We are captains of our souls.” If a man is dissatisfied, if lie is discontented, then he is ambitious and he can thank his creator for what he formerly considered a curse. The unthinking man who has accepted his lot and is satisfied, is dangerous to society. He must be dissatisfied with his lot and must struggle to the goal of his dreams. Only while men are striving to place their circle outside all other circles, can we entertain hope of a millenium. So we of the 20tli century are commencing to realize that dissatisfaction is not a curse but is nature’s method of helping the human race attain a higher standard. The question has been asked; why is not the world full of Lin¬ colns, for great numbers are discontented and are trying to better themselves? The making of an individual life is purely personal. Intelligence, culture and resources that come from these attainments lie within the reach of almost every one in this country who gets a clear vision of what he wants and is willing to work for it. How many people have learned to make their failures omens of success? Those who have, have learned one of the most valuable secrets in life. Much experimenting, frequent failure and opposition lie along the road to success in every line of work. If the circle of a life has ceased to widen, if the individual is discontented and is vainly striving to reach the outer circles, let him not sit down in despair, but quietly, and with a firm determination, set about one day at a time, to work out his ambitions. Nothing can be secured in this world without work. We hear of geniuses and come back at fate with the thought that if we were born with the talents of that man, we would be satisfied. In the first place, we would not be satisfied, for having achieved one victory Nature calls on us for other and bigger things. In the second place, there is no such thing as genius. Genius is explained by the one word—work. Who works harder than Edison? Who is more dissatisfied than he? The unceasing work of an individual to satisfy his ever rising goal is called genius. We, who are satisfied with our lot and are a menace for that reason, try to excuse ourselves from our responsibility and lay the blame at fortune’s door. The world, however, has ceased to think in terms of luck and fate, and as a result we only succeed in deceiving ourselves. Deceiving one’s self is the worst thing that a person can do, therefore, the best thing to do is to confront the ultimate truth and be the “Captain of one’s soul.” Dissatisfaction is predominent among the people. It is not a curse of fate, but a blessing in disguise. Life is a series of concentric circles. The farther out one would go, the harder the work must be, but no work can be accomplished unless it is inspired by ambition. With the ambition firmly fixed, with the mind ready for quiet, reso¬ lute, daily work, which will slowly but surely raise one from a rut and i—25—

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(Junior Prize Story) W ITH a sigh, Barbara Winston drew her chair to the table. “Tired Barbee f” asked her mother. “Awfully tired,’’ Barbara answered. “It’s been a beastly day from start to finish.” Little Aunt Hetty looked up anxiously, “Oh dear! she ex¬ claimed, “I was afraid it would be. You remember you saw the new moon over your left shoulder yesterday.” Barbara’s frowning face relaxed and her deep dimples flashed into view. “So that’s it,” she said with a laugh. “What a relief! I was dre adfully afraid it was due to my own evil temper.” Mrs. Winston shook her head disap¬ provingly at her faded little sister-in-law. “Hetty, my dear, you are hopelessly superstitious. “Well, of course,” began Aunt Hetty defensively, “I don’t say the moon is responsible, exactly; its only a sign.” “Oh now don’t spoil it, Auntie dear,” implored Barbara, “When it’s such a relief to my feelings. I’m rested already.” Mrs. Winston sighed as Barbara kissed her good-night. Things might have been so different! It was a year now since Mr. Winston’s death and the family had been forced to give up their luxurious home for a small cottage in an unfashionable part of town. They had been able to subsist on their incomes, helped out by Barbara’s slender earnings. It was a very weary Barbara, indeed, who dropped into bed and it seemed to her that she had hardly gotten asleep when her little alarm clock woke her up to another day of work. “Oh dear!” she groaned, “and I know that plagued little clock is slow, I forgot to set it ahead. Now I shall have to hurry and that always starts me off wrong.” “Bother!” she exclaimed a few moments later, “my pet¬ ticoat’s on wrong side out.” However dimples soon took the place of frowns. “Aunt Hetty would call it a sign of good luck. 1 have half a notion to leave it that way, just for an experiment.” Certainly the day did not begin very lucky for it was raining hard and the street car was so crowded that Barbara had to stand up. The afternoon dragged slowly by. Barbara had been at the office for almost a year now, yet the work was as uncongenial ns ever to her. She could not seem to accustom herself to it. r — 27 ’—t