Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School - Collegiate Yearbook (Sarnia, Ontario Canada)

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H8 THE CO LL EGIATE this letter-seems to indicate that the questionable pleasure of scolding is to be denied me. The other duty which the older alumnus seemed to think himself bound to fulfil was that of attempt- ing to say something tremendously important in the way of moral coun- sel. It often consisted o-f little but stereotyped exhortations, full of sound, sometimes even of fury and signifying little to impatient youth. XVe tolerated such advice but were vastly bor-ed and privately cynical about it all. Had we been a few years' older we should have felt sympathy for the aim, even if the execution was poor. It would be easy to slip into su-ch a sermon now. I don't intend to, but, in looking back at Collegiate life, I can remember times when to certain individuals a word of en- couragement would have checked despondency or bolstered up a re- solve which faltered 'because the boo-st was missing and to such indi- viduals, who belong to every group in every age, I swhould like to write a few words of optimistic encour- agement. The jargon of boxing writers has giveen us a picturesque expression to describe the fighter who, weary and dazed with the force and the number of blows he has received, still struggles doggedly and, keeping his feet, refuses to take the count,- he is called punch-drunk . The ex- pression is a colourful one and ap- plicable to many of the experiences of life outside of its narrow use in the world of sport. Too many of us become punch- drunk by the discouragements and the crowding doubts of years at the Collegiate age-an age that is pack- ed with vexing question marks. Wli-ith too many, lack of confidence in ability to weather a storm of blows sets in before the fight has well commenced. If you're punch- drunk from dejection because you have just missed making the team. if, despite the fact that you've work- ed consfc.ient.iously for that last ex- am, you're just under the line, if the vote is against you for a position you wanted, keep your feet and struggle to avoid the count. T'he fight will be that much easier if you remember that every one of you has an important nic-he in the world. If you are primarily a man of action, you can become one of t'he bulwarks of a community and of a nation and have a spotlight role in an age of progress which puts a premium on action. If you are prfi- marily a dreamer, remember that the ability to dream is one of the greatest helritages of you-th and that some day one of t'hose dreams of yours may give to the world a new image of beauty or of service which will have justified your existence. And if you combine both vision and action in strong degree, you are a darling of the gods, of such stuff as conquerors are made and few of tfhe pinnacles of life will prove too steep for you to scale. Vflfy vague generalization in cramped space but written with t'he hope that two types of s-tudenits wihich I have in mind may use it as fuel to the flagging fires of personal ambition. VVhat st'arted out with the intention of being a rambling and discursive chat has somehow assumed a note of high seriousness and I must stop before I am labelled with the dreaded title of sermon- izer. But before I l-eave you and commence a gruelling struggle to discover whether the Vulgar Latin Pretonic Vowel a produces in the 13th Century Picard dialect any- thing else besiides a pain in the head, let me wish for yo-u and the S.C.I. and T.S. one of the best wishes in my power-that th.is year may prove one of the happiesit in the long list of fruitful years which are the boast of a distinguished school. Cordially yours, Theodore F. M. Newton.

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THE. COLLEGIATE ll7 them since their graduation from the .Collegiate is a source of pride to the school. It is hoped that these letters will reach many members of the Alumni and serve as an impetus for bringing about a closer relationship between the present students and theAlumni. IO Trowbridge St., Cambridge, Mass., 'Feb. 27, 1929. Dear S. C. I. Students: 'Ilhe request for a message for the schfool magazine finds me stranded with a positive desire to say some- thing but with no indication as to what to say or how- to say it. To use a foot-ball metaphor, I am in the embarrasing position of having to buck the line without having re- ceived any signals. Accordingly, if I tend to run amuck, head the wrong directi-on, and make litltle yardage, you muslt make allowances for-my dilemma. In the days when as a struggling edit-or of your publication, I timidly solicited c-ontributions from distant graduates to fill the gaping columns of the Alumni section. it seemed to be an understood thing that a letter from an alumnus sh-ould have several stock ingredients. Primarily, such a letfter was expected to report the whereabouts and the glorious a- chievements Cthey seemed rarely to be commonplacej of those graduates who had gone confidently fortlh to the trifling task of whipping the world of commerce to its knees or who were wrestling with academic bfogies in whatever greatest uni- versity in the worldn they had hap- pened to choose. ' My sole contribution to alumni personals musft be the mention of Mrs. Fred Sparrow, formerly known as Nan Gabler, who is married to a prominent Instructor in Chemistry here at Harvard. As far as I know she iS the only other recent graduate of the 'S.C.I. in New England. Of my present fashion in uni- versities I need say little. I was de- lighted to find that here at Harvard, where academic standards are prob- ably more rigid than at any other place on the continent, Canadians and degrees from Canadian uni- versities are held in high repute. The Chairman of Harvard's renown- ed Englislh Department is an En- glishman who lived in Canada for many years, and the staff list of the 'English Department is typical of the whole university in numbering several Canadians amongstrits noted professors. Boston seems almost half-full of Canadians and the regard in which one is held, on the state- ment of such citizenship increases the natural pride one has in being a Canadian. H Another age-old device of the Collegiate alumnus letter was the fhark backu device which, commenc- ign with Now when I was at the S.C.I. -,would not only exalt the customs of other days but also loud- ly lament the sorry pass to which school alifairs had come at the time of writing. I can easily fulfil the requirements of the formerifor as I sit here in an educational centre on the Atlantic seaboard with a New England snowstorm whirling out- side my window, my memory spans both distance and time to return to Ontario football lields. Literary Society platforms, all-night sessions editing The Collegiate , the pomp of Cadet Inspection, championship, receptions, D.M. , Davy Corcoran, Miss Storey, and a number of be- loved figures who have slipped into the impenetrable shadows- But I must check the rush of im- ages and force myself to a reali- zation that what 'means the joy of re-living those days to me can mean nothing more than the mental vag- aries of another old-timer to you. And I fear that I am to be denied even the denuciatory roleg for the only data concerning the old school which a prolonged ab-sence from my home town has allowled me-tihe news of another football champion- ship and evidence of real zeal by your magazine officials in ferrett-ing me out and in eloquently demanding

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THE COLLEGIATE H9 Dear Collegiate: For the second t-ime since mv graduation six years ago, from S.C.I. and T.S., I have been honoured with an invitation to write a few lines to the Collegiate , and I am very happy. You know one does not like to feel that he has developed, too completely, t-he earmarks of a has been ! And it is most difficult to avoid that feeling when he knows that he is a has been , not only from his Collegiate but from his University as well, and when Alumni letiters and magazines are pouring in upon hi-m from High School and Universfity and Fraternity. He nevertheless, rebels against being pushed too far back upon the s'helf. Thus, to have an opportunity to write to the ','Co1legiate again, is to h-ave the occasion for calling up a train of happy memories, which is the best antidote for disgruntled feelings and mental wrlinklels of which I have any knowledge. Vis- ions of events an-d incidents, of per- s-onages and characters c-ome tumbling in riotous confusion one upon the other. Battles royal in the gymnasium or the pool, battles wordy in trhe corner of the L-ibrary or the Executive Room of the Sen- ior Literary Socie-ty, battles hectic when we tried to appear perfectly calm about that announcement we were to make from the platform at Assembly that morning-all these re-crea-tfe tlhemselves in imagination and give one a fellow-fee-ling with those who are engaging in the same battles to-day. But memories do not bring to mem-ber-s of the Alumni any greater happiness than t-he reports they con- stantly receive of the success of the present pupils of S.C.I. and T.S. in the various spheres in whuich they themselves f-ormerly lalboured. Our congratulat-ions are extended to the Foowtlball Team of '28. Their a- chiement was nothing if noft m'ar- vellous. And we applauded the suc- cess attained in every other branch of activilty-athletic, literary, mu- sical and theatrical. Best of all, the academic, which is the very raison d'e'tre of the school, has not been sacrificed in the interests of any of the other spheres. VVe congratulate the 'S'tl.1ClC1'1tS'b upon their enviable showing of the last few years and look forward with sure confidence to the results of the present year's work. This first opportunity of formally congratulating Mr. F. C. Asbury up- on h1s a-ppointment as principal must not be lost. To those who had the honour to sit under his tutorship in Old Upper School Room the news of his appointment came as no surprise. Many rerum under 3? felt that it was in natura and the success of the school his guardianslhip has, once again, vindicated the wisdom of the Board of Education of our city. The Alumni are, however, most deeply interested in tho-se members Jinitiative. of S.C.I.8zT.S. who, within a few months, will join the ranks of grad- uates. We trust that the majority will be able to continue their educa- tion at University. Of necessity some will not be given the opportun- ity. Bu-t it is to be hoped that no one who has the opportunity will make tfhe great error of treating it lightly or thoughtlefssly casting it aside. First of all, then, we 'shall take it for granted that you have 'taken your Fifth Form work. Do not make the mistake of not taking it. And, while you are there, do learn to be your own tutor. It will help you over many a rough spot in your early University years, when you are thrown quite upon your own Now you are ready to choose your University. Do not be alarmed by the Chinese-Puzzle like c'haracter of the syllabusesl They really are quite sane! Each University has what might be called its prize facul- ty-Medicine or Artis or Science- and, financial consi-derations permit- ting, it is a good policy, I believe, to choose the college whose special fac- ulty is the on-e in which you propose