Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

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28 Approximately eight hours out of the twenty-four are spent at work, whether we happen to be housewives or have a career. The rest of the twenty-four we spend eating, sleeping and play- ing. If we don ' t know anything about the profes- sion we are choosing, then we ' d better hurry up and find out something about it. One of the big- gest mistakes anyone can make is to be unaware of the hard work and disadvantages as well as the glamour and good features of his or her pros- pective job. Maybe one of us is planning to be a reporter, but if he doesn ' t know that the pay is very small for beginners, that college graduates are most likely to start off as cub reporters, and other such important facts, he will be sadly dis- appointed to realize that he is not going to start off with a salary of twenty-five thousand dollars a year with the job of editor of a big daily paper. On the other hand a good cub reporter has the chance of someday being a feature writer and perhaps traveling all over the country or even the world. Success is not really determined by the amount of money a person makes, but rather by what he or she amounts to in life. If we can go to college, we should by all means do so. It is important to get all the formal edu- cation that we can. Lastly, here are some things we should take to heart as undergraduates. We should talk with people who have jobs that we think we might like. We should visit colleges and talk to the students on the campuses. We shouldn ' t wait until we are seniors. Our lives and future are ahead of us. We should make them worthwhile. Our Democracy, Worth Having, Worth Defending Joseph Devine, ' 49 WE are living in times of turbulance and great chaos when the world seems false and in- secure. The peoples of the world are frustrated as the things they held dear, their dreams, crumble down about them. We have had two great con- flicts in less than half a century; many youths in many countries have made the supreme sacrifice. These wars have been between democratic coun- tries and dictatorships. What is democracy? Why is it worth having and worth defending? Democracy is a philosophy which insists upon the capability of the citizens to carry on their own government. The encyclopedia defines democracy as a term originating in Greece to designate a government where the people share in directing the activities of the state as well as participate in its rewards, as distinguished from the govern- ments controlled by a class, a distant group, or a dictator. Democracy exalts the individuals whereas other forms of government tend to mini- mize the importance of the common man. This does not mean, however, that all the subjects of a democracy can do as they please. If this were so, then our democracy would be a state of an- archy and chaos. There are many advantages of a democracy over other types of government. The people of a democracy are free because of the basic rights which their forefathers wrote in their Constitu- tion. They take an active part in the government and have direct say as to who shall be their leaders. If they don ' t like certain laws, it is within their power to change them. They have religious freedom. They can say what they please, so long as they don ' t harm anyone or make false statements. Freedom to assemble and freedom of the press are also advantages of a democracy over other types of governments. The Bill of Rights also protects the basic rights. It protects the common person against un- fair searches, insures the right to a speedy and fair trial, protects him from quartering troops against his will. In what other countries in the world do people have these rights? The answer is, in no other. In some countries people have been shot for voicing their opinions against the gov- ernment. The average man has no basic free- dom. He is a slave to the state instead of the state being the means of carrying out his wishes. He must do as he is told rather than what he thinks is right. Is this better than a democracy? Is this the way the government should operate for the people? Is our democracy worth having? Weigh the advantages and disadvantages in fa- vor of this country. It is far from perfect but it is the purest operating democracy in the world today. The people have a sacred right and duty to serve their country. It can be the best place in the world to live in only so long as the people wish to stand fully behind their government. If we neglect our sacred privilege, then we are not supporting our government. If we don ' t support our government, what ' s the sense of calling our- selves Americans. The framers of our constitution were the most learned men of their time. They realized

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EDITORIALS Reflections of a Senior Mary Lou Corriga?i, ' 49 Life, as I see it. is like a book; and like every book, it has chapters and pages, — characters and a purpose. We, the Seniors, opened our Book of Life about seventeen years ago, and here we are already at the end of the first chapter. That first chapter is called Childhood. From the day that we were born to the day when we shall graduate from high school, our childhood has been spent in preparing us for Chapter Two, when we shall become adults and must make our way in the world alone. Every day of our senior year makes stronger the realization that there are only a few pages to be turned before we must put to use all we have learned in seventeen years. Just being at a ball game with our friends or being in school makes us think how little time there is left. Soon every- thing will change. We won ' t belong any more. We will all go our separate ways and Chapter One will become just a memory and a lesson. We want to make the most out of every minute there is left and get the most enjoyment out of everything we do, because we are doing many of these things for the last time. This last year has been the fullest, the most im- portant of our seventeen so far. We feel that we have grown up in lots of ways this year. It ' s hard to explain just how we ' ve grown up, but we feel older anyway. We want to face the world with confidence; we hope that we will make a success of our lives. Especially we want to make our par- ents and teachers proud of us, and we want them to know that we appreciate al l they have done for us. Such are our thoughts as we see our childhood drawing swiftly to a close. Just a few more pages to turn, and Chapter One will be finished. We only hope that after we become accustomed to Chapter Two, we shall enjoy it as much as we have Chapter One and that it will lead to a suc- cessful future. Looking Ahead Carol Stearns, ' 50 The first years of our lives are spent in going to school. But after we graduate from high school, then what? Perhaps we want to get some additional education, which means two to four more years. But while we are getting this training and knowledge, we should have some idea of what we ' re going to make our life ' s work. Probably some of us are thinking of becoming doctors, lawyers, or artists, or entering other just as exciting and interesting professions. Are we sure that we will be happy in the work we are planning to choose? We must love what we are going to do or we ' ll never make a success of it. Otherwise it will be just plain monotony and toil.

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29 that to do something, they should do it well. They also realized that at some time or other, our way of life would be challenged to defend its theories of government. For this reason they drew up the Constitution to the best of their abilities. It has lasted from 1776. No other country in the world can say that of their Constitution. Our Consti- tution was drawn up for the protection of the common, everyday person, who should be the nucleus of any country. Why is our democracy worth defending? Why in less than half a century have we twice gone to war to defend our way of life? What makes men sacrifice their lives and families for it? These are but a few out of many more ques- tions that the person who has never known de- inocracv asks himself. Take any main street in any section of our country, and you will see what America really means. You will see ordin- ary people possessing freedoms unheard of in other countries. Go to any church on any Sunday morning and you will see millions of people wor- shiping their God as they deem fit. After mass walk into a newspaper stand and l)u your Sun- day paper. In what other country in the world could a common person become president of his nation? This is what makes America a Democ- racy, — worth having, worth defending. My Favorite Place on Earth Barbara Best, ' 49 My favorite place on earth is the one at the end of Lighthouse Road and the beginning of Rebec- ca Road in Scituate. At this historic site there is a lighthouse with a home adjoining it. It is the fa- mous lighthouse at Cedar Point with the bronze plaque on it bearing the inscription, SCITUATE LIGHTHOUSE Built 1810— Lighted 1811 Simeon Bates, Reuben Bates, James Young Bates — Keepers Rebecca and Abigail Bates — daughters of Simeon called The American Army of Two This lighthouse is built on rocky ground with water a few feet from it. There are two break- waters going out from this peninsula, one in towards the harbor and the other more towards the sea. The former was built of rocks which have very flat tops. It is said that twenty years ago when the breakwater was new it was so level you could ride a bicycle over it. Now after many years of surging tides the rocks have shifted so there are large cracks. The other breakwater was built in 1941. It is much wider and longer than the first and it has a beacon on the end of it which flashes once every four seconds. I think it is most delightful to sit on the con- crete platform of this beacon at the end of the breakwater and watch the water either swelling or breaking over the rocks below. To the northeast there is nothing but water and more water. Of course there are boats, some sailing along lackadaisically and others just skimming over the water. Also there are many, many lobster buoys which I always like to think of as stepping stones for someone to walk on. Now and then a seagull gracefully glides by. Looking up the coast to the north-northwest, 1 can see as far as the Glades, and looking down the coast to the southeast, I can see as far as Fourth Cliff and Humarock. These places are the extreme parts of Scituate on the coast. Behind me is the harbor with all kinds of craft, — sail boats, dories, skiffs and outboard motors, fishing boats. Coast Guard boats, and all sorts of launches and cruisers. In back is Sand Hills with its crowds of people and its rambling cottages. Whenever I think of Scituate as my home town, I always see the lighthouse. No doubt this light- house at Cedar Point will always be my favorite place on eartli.