Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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gin nzummemuratinn nf the life anh fnnrk nf Ellnrh fueeh-2-muir helnneh fguncrnur-General uf Clanahzx E ILl.l'S'l'RA'l'lUN SHOWS THE CHAPEL 5E'l l'lNLL ON 'IHI-I ULIIAS OF THE SVHUUI, MHNIORIAI, SERYHQI-I

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THE VOYAGEUR A Personal Word T the moment these words are written, the very shape and form of the world which we have known is changing so rapidly that any attempt to describe what is happening might very well sound like ancient history by the time it appears in print. The events of the past few weeks have been such as to tear men's souls and to destroy their confidence in those fundamental values on which west- ern civilization has been built. Force and violence seem to he the only effective determinants, a world order based on any conception of brother- hood, of honour and of justice between individuals and nations seems very far away. At such a time, therefore, it is the more necessary that those who have some faith in the ultimate supremacy of spiritual values should re-assert that faith. No matter how dark the days may be, how trying the sacrifices we may be called upon to endure, we must continue to believe that human personality is a supreme value and that throughout the agony of these times there is, nevertheless, a Power in the world which makes for right- eousness. By virtue of its very nature education cannot bring about the immediate changes that can be accomplished by other more drastic methods. There never was a time in the history of the world, however, when education of the best sort was so necessary as it is to-day. Young minds must not be permitted to be scarred unnecessarily by the consideration of events. Ado- lescents, emotions and idealism must be trained to look forward with hope and faith to the future. It is on the shoulders of todayls children that will devolve the task of building the newer and better world. It is our responsibility as teachers and educators to inspire them with confidence that such a world can be, and to prepare them as adequately as possible to discharge nobly their responsibilities, both now and in the future. It is to this task that Pickering College has been, is, and, in the Provi- dence of God, will remain committed. l would like to express herein my renewed thanks to the board of management, the staff and the student-body, who, in the first year of the war have co-operated loyally and enthusiastically to make the past year one of the happiest and most successful that we have ever had. M. ZW 17

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THE VOYAGEUR V OL. 13 1940 PUBLISHED BY THE STAFF AND STUDENTS OF PICKERING COLLEGE, NEWMARKE'P ONTARIO, CANADA Editorial URING THE MONTH OF JUNE 1940 again will pass out between the pillars of Pickering as in former years a group of students who have gained an academic standing enabling them to go on to a higher institution of learning, or enter into the business life of the country. Besides taking with them an education obtained from text books, it is hoped that they will also carry along one which they have learned from living in a community of fellows, everyone a different personality and having something to offer which will be of beneficial value to any person going out into a world of many and varied personalities. However, this world into which these graduates are going is not the same one that the students of former years went out into but one which is consumed with turmoil and havoc such as has never been known to man- kind. ln this world of to-day the Democracies are fighting for their con- tinued existence which is being endangered by a section of the human race saturated with the ideas of a fanatical power-seeking neurotic who cares not how he achieves his objective, and at the present no one seems to know what the future has in store for us. But whatever comes, let us all carry with us the memories, the resolve and the fine spirit of Pickering 1939-40. VAN LAUOHTON. UR FATHERS WERE told that every man had an indisputable right to ulife, liberty and the pursuit of happinessfi The wording of the final phrase of that slogan was unfortunate, for certain it is that we have misinterpreted it and set too much store by it until the lives of many of us are lived out in a frantic scramble after pleasure which we mistake for happiness. Our times have given us little help in the correction of this error. The world of advertising and cheap literature and motion pictures implies that a happy state consists in the ability to gratify each and every desire. More than this, much that we read and hear is a deliberate attempt to stimulate desire among a generation whose sales resistance has been so lowered that misery may actually result from the inability to obtain those nostrums for bliss which are recommended on every hand. Desires, impossible of gratification, are constantly being created for us who are so completely gullible that we reject none of them, who believe that happiness lies in the gratification of all desire, who believe that happiness is a state which may be achieved 19