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

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THE COLLEGIATE 95 do an act which will detract from the honor of your school. I almost feel that I am getting old, when I realize that Mr. Dent is the only member of the faculty wh-o was on the staff when I was a stu- dent and yet, a recent photograph of him, reveals that he is younger today than he was at that time, due to the present absence of the Van- Dyke beard with which all of us who struggled with chemistry and physics in 1910, were so familiar. Needless to say what we learned under him, has since served us well on many an occasion. I cann-ot pass without a word about our beloved D.M. who passed on to such a just reward last year-in my profes- sion, I can safely say that his teach- ing, particularly of Latin, has been of constant service. Twenty or twenty-five years ag-o in Ontario, the thought was that a university education was only pos- sible for a so-called rich man's child, today, that thought, I am sure has entirely vanished. Institutions of learning have grown steadily in numbers in the past twenty years, and numerically the studenlts have likewise grown. It is the except- ional student today wh-o d-oes not get a university training, therefore, university training is a practical necessity. With-out it you willlbe handicapped and competition in pro- fessions and in business nowadays is so keen that most -of us cannot afford -to have any more handicaps than th-ose with which we'are al- ready endowed. Hence, plan now on obtaining a university. education whether or n-ot you have ever plan- ned so be'fore. Do not let a lack of finances stop you. In the bulk of the great universities in America, both in Canada and in the United States, at least half of the students are seflf-supporting. I do not sug- gest that you plan on workin-g while you are at a university. Very few prolfesfsional col-le-ges desire students to earn their mone while lin colle e . Y -3 I because you will be kept so busy- withyour college sch-ool work, that you will need all your s-pare time for necessary recreat-ion, instead of outside work to support yourself. But instead, if necessary, earn your money for your education in your vaca-tion periods, and it can be read- ily accomplished. Because of -rthe opportunity af- forded thereby to meet people and to learn the proper way to do so, selling -such as house to hfouse work, demonstratinfg, and other var- ieties thereof, are heartily endorsed, selling provides not only a fine method of earning money but also provides fresh air, plenty of exercise and go-od business training. Those who are graduating this year are entering into the more ser- ious phases of their livers, at a time when opportunities are greater th-an at any time in the past, Cana-da to- day is on the verge olf a tremendous further development, the growth of the United States, where I have spent most of my life since gradu- ation from the Collegiate, has been so rapid 'that to mention it, is super- fluous. Possibly the professions to- day, in most of the provinces of the Dominion, are fairly crowded and yet, I do not seriously consider -that professions can ever be over-crowd- ed because there is always room for one more, lif such one has the will to survive by hard work. However, as compared to the 'opportunities of twenfty years ago, there are so many additional avo-cations and profes- sions, such as the five-l-ds -off aviation and radio, the tremendous develop- ment in the electrical vworlfd and the tremendous growth 'in the insurance field, tha't I can only say to each of you who work hard: success must crown your efforts. i A reasonable amlbiti-on for each of you is to be successful-and to be successful, you must obtain a reas- onable sh'are of this world's goods, begin no-w, to learn to save money because money gives you confidence and power to accompllish things in your business or profession, yet the making of a lot of money, is not a necessary element of success, in

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94 THE COLLEGIATE xlslt Al My f'X. liz 5 v ei lr... I i fl '15 1 3 C get f x GK T VH Q E j K W ext A ,,f,,5g-L: X WN f , I is X ' WAR' E, Strictly speaking, the alumni are not the students who merely left school but those who graduated. The students of the schooil however, are interested t-0 know not only wfhat the graduates are doinng but also those who were forced to leave, so in our alumni we must include both classes. In doing such it is only proper to make a marked distinction betwe-en those who graduated and those who did not com.plete t'heir course. Thus the Alumn-i section for the Collegiate o-f 1930 is -divid-e-d into different sections. As has been the custom in the past we have two letters for this depart- ment of the magazine, one from a former graduate and one from a recent one. We were very fortunate to find a man such as Mr. Laurie Telfer of Port Huron, Mich., to represent the former students. Mr. Telifer 'graduated from the old Collegiate in 1910. He then entered the University of Michigan to stu-dy law. After successfully completing his course at this university he began practising law in Port Huron. VVithin a short time he was made assistant prosecuting attlo-rney of that city and for the last few years has been prosecutin-g attorney. VVe wish Mr. Telfer all su-ccess in the years to follow and extend to him an invitation to visit our school at any time. Law Office LAURIE O.- TELFER Port Huron, Mich. April 7, 1930. Dear S.C.I. Students: Twenty years ago this year, when I graduated .f'rom the S.C.I., we did not have the -publication The Col- legiate , which, by your endeavors, 'ha-s developed into such a splendid year boolkg nor did we have the beau-tiful building which has been yours during your peri-0-d of study, and yet, the absence thereof, did not in any way diminish that love for the school, and that school spirit, each o-f which is so essential to the student. I only wish that, as t'he years go by, you will always have a lov-e for your school and a pride in its acco-mplishments, to such an ex- tent, that you will n-ever knowingly

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96 THE COLLEGIATE any event keep an untarnished rec- ord-the thought which I desire most to convey to you is that you should al-ways keep your character as unsullied as undoubtedly it -is at the present time. Keep up your in- terest in sports and I play them whenever possible, in nine years at the Bar, six years and a half of which has been spent in the prose- cution olf' criminal offenders, I am very positive that the percentage of althletes or at leastiof persons en- gaged in some form of athletics, who become criminals, is practically negligible, Sports are one of the greatest deterrents of crime. Al- ways go straight in whatever bus- iness or profession you enter. Maj- or crimes have so increased -in the past deca-de, not on-ly in the United States but also in Canada, Qwhere fortunately the increase has been much lessj that it behooves each of us who believes in the present form of civilization and those' principles for which our Anglo-Saxon fore- fathers lived and died, to see to it th-at respect for law from everyone in our c-ountry be upheld, without obedience to law, our governments must perish, which is un.thinka'ble, hence, as you go forth from the S.C. I., always bear in mind that obed- ience to law is an absolute essential to y-our own well-being and safety as well as to the well-being and safety of your country. Your conduct will reflect the standar-d of your schoolan-d if you go on to any of the universities, and I hope that you will, your conduct there, and your conduct when you graduate therefrom, will reflect the standard o-f your school, each of you thereby is constantly writing your own letter of recommendation, while environment and heredity un- dowbteldly contribute in many ways ho your 'fut-ure, the bulk of the .fut- ure depends upon yourself, there are some things you cannot buy, such as honesty, loyalty, unselfish- ness, friends, love and many other quaLities,'an.d these are the things which develop your character, to each of you, is given 'the privilege of choosing y-our own life and what you will make o-f it and in whatever line of endeavor you eventually land, and wherever you eventually locate, your force in the community will be for go-od or for ewil, just so far as you desire it t-o be and dependent largely upon your own will and con- duct. I fear you may think I am Ser- monizin.g -which is farthest Ifrom my thoughts, as one grows older, he sees so many places in life, where he might have done differently, that it behooves us all to st-op on-ce in -a whiile and check up on where we are going. You do not realize 'how for- tunate you are in having had the op- portunity to attend a first class in- stituti-on such as the S.C.I. -while you are attending it, tenor twenty years from now, you will realize it. If a glimpse of what each of you will be doing fifteen years from now could be given you, I wonder if you would 'be satisfied, to make sure t'hat you will be, and that y-ou will not have any regrets, always work as hard as you can, -because the sum total of success whether in worldly go-o-ds or in other merits, is depend- ent upon work and obedience not only to law but to your religious faith. When I graduated 'from the University of Michigan, Dr. Burton, a tremendous man of energy who died while yet a young ma-n, and who before his death became pres- ident of said university, said among otiher things: Attainment is the death of ambition , no truer words were ever spoken so I trust that we will all live an-d strive t-o t'he end that we may yet accomplish something worth while, an-d do not let defeat whip you, one of the best things which can happen to anyone is to get a first class beating now and again whether it is in a sport or one's business and the reaction s'h-ould .be healthy, if -one is the opt- imist he shou-ld be becau.se you can- not always be a winner and yet, in defeat, a football team or an indi- vidual can be tremendous and ob- il: