Plainfield High School - Hermiad Yearbook (Central Village, CT)

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THE HERMIAD 11 Finally the silence was broken by Miss Violette. Try rry new portable typewriter , she said. Thereupon my shyness left me and I was myself again. Rcyal Rita was after all the twin sister tc the other Royals that I typed on every day upstairs. Q62 success Usabelle Heneault, 1931 J ALM courage in the midst of difficulty, firm strength in tirre of stress, and steady purpose to do one's best whatever the outcome, are the qualities which lead to success. In home life, in school life and in later life, either business or professicnal, the attainir ent of success depends whclly upon ourselves. We may be successful only by using to the fullest degree our power to irake the b e st of anything we undertake, no matter what obs.acles may confront us. Characier is a real foundation for success. A perscn of fine character always stands cut and is ready to go ahead and accomplish anything that he sets out to do. If ycu wish to be a success in life you must do your work wlth a firm purpose that you are doing the best that is in ycu. If you determine to put the best there is in you into everything you do, not matter what it is, you are certain to succeed. The cultivation of courage is an essential to success. Those who meet all things squarely ltave a lasting foundation cf noble character. The quality of your wcrk will have a great deal to do with the quality of your life. The habit of insisting upon the best of which you are capable, and always demanding of ycurself the high est will bring for you a most successful career. ANANIAS MUNCHAUSEN, EXPLORER, SPEAKS CLester Burdick, 19313 T WAS during my hunt for the North Pole that the experience that I am about to relate happened. During the spring term of my senior year at college I had an argument with one of my school mates as to the iraterial of which the North Pole was madeg he vowed it was made cf cak, because that niaterial could stand for many years withcut decayingg I asserted it was a huge mound of earth built by Eskimoes. After school closed

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10 THE HERMIAD envicus friends before long. As I sat there in that wonderful dream, the English quiz went on. Let the quiz go , I said to myself. After all we had quizzes aimost every day, but it was not every diy I was treated to a sight cf such, a gorgeous creature as that which stood before me eden. At last Miss Overworkcd left Rita alzne and came to us. She asked me the first question in the quiz. I had net done it, of courseg however nothing else mattered just then but what stood before me. Then I thought how terribly embarrased I would feel if Rita knew that I had not dine the quiz. She would probably think that I was an awfully stupid fellow wha just care to school because both back and mind were toa weak to work. I must have blushed when the room became suddenly quiet and the teacher asked me why I had not done the questions. As I lcoked from teacher to pupil and dropped my head low, I saw Rita sympathetically looking at me. At last between gulps I found breath enzugh to make an alibi. I could not sly that I was gazing at Miss Overworked's guest all this time. This would have been admitting ton much, when I could say I did not know how to answer the question. I wished then that I had never seen Rita , or rather, that she had never seen me. I was thinking ef the saying tlnt the first impression is lasting. From now on, I thcught, I would never see Rita again. She would carry off with her the humorous situation of the dunce who d.d not answer his questions because he was immediately transported into a trance at the sight of her. It was not entirely my fault either. Beautiful things like Rita were nzt to be seen every day nor everywhere. It was just because I had.not seen many like her befare. I was not ts bla re for that. I sighed wearlly and picked up my books when the bell rang. It was the only thili I had hoped for since I had been asked that question-the bell. It was with a heavy heart that I left that English class, slowly plodding my way to my home roon. I could not leave like this. No, I would not let Rita go out of my life just because of this one foolish incident. After dismissal for the day, I chanced to go by the English room. Rita was still there. Miss Overworked was there too. I hesitated a mement then walked into the room, resslved ta make a better showing and prove that I was not quite as bad as I seemed to be. Then I had an invitation. I never expected it. I was not worthy of such an honor, for that is wnat it was to me. I was asked to sit down, and directly in front of Rita tzo. I stalled and clumsily fell into the chair. This was n'y last and only hope, I thought, and I would not fail this time. I was very nervous by now. My fingers were all shaking up to my neck. I must have looked very cold sitting there, shaking' like a leaf and without saying a single word.

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12 THE HERMIAD in June, I decided to go to the North to find cut tlhe truth cf the matter. On July 1, I set out on foot for the North Pole. I was young and had great powers of enduranceg I reached the first ice field in September. From that time on I made slow progress for I was not accustomed to walking on ice fields. My instruments were not so accurate as those of mcdern timesg yet by those I had carried with me, I figured that I was only one hundred miles from the pole by October 1. Hour by hour the weather becamegcolderg I had to move continually in order to keep warm. By the first of Ngvember I began to look for the Pole. My instruments would work no longer- probably because of the cold. For over a week I hunted for the poleg all I saw was ice and snow. Nzthing even resembling a pole was visible anywhere on the horizon. Finally I made a decision: I would go back home. This startling thought came to me as I was standing on an ice-flow. Suddenly the pinnacle on which I had taken my stand gave way and I was precipitated into the icy water. The sudden ifrmersisn was not unwelcome for my brain was heated by the excess of my thought-friction. I paddled about a bit, made friends with a forlzrn- looking walrus, and was about to investigate a seal's reception room, when out of the slowly cooling feverishness of my brain there emerged a thought. It was not predeterminedg I take no credit for it to my own judgment. Where was the opening through which I had fallen? With the remarkable originality that :has ever characterized my move- ments, I began to look about for another hole thrsugh which I could crawl to the upper ice-fiow. There was none. After several hours' fruitless endeavor, I became conscious of the increasing datrpness of my clothing. Again I made a startling guess: the water was soaking into my cl-thes! I acted with commendable judgment immediately, for I fcrthwith. dropped such of my clothing as I could disengage into the water and started on my lamg swim to the outer edge of the fiow. Quickly the hours liew byg they grew to days: that was the la'g2st How I have ever seen. At times I became exhausted, and at such ni-:ments the friendly walrus lent me the aid of his immense flippers. Ever since I have had a soft spot in my heart for mustaches. I made still another discoveryg a walrus has very attractive features, if one makes allowance for a certain mournfulness of expression. On we went, fast by night, slowly by day, for the rising temperature of' the light hours interfered with cur progress. Then one day came the disillusioning-a day when my ccnfidence in one whom I was always taught to believe infallible was shaken. Hour by hour I had noticed the moderation in the temperature of the waterg ilnally the walrus left meg he would go no farther. He cast one dejected parting glance over his massive shoulder, waved a ponderous Hipper, and swam slowly back cver the way we had come. Now the water was uncomfortably warm and slightly opaque. What could it all mean? On I swam. At last I chanced to