Seward Park High School - Almanac Yearbook (New York, NY)

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THE ALMANAC ON THE HONCDRARY Tln which a lower Senior becomes an ArisTa membenl SEWARDITE spends lovely spring nighTs and breezy auTumn eves wading Through a shallow sea oT shapely geomeTric problems Tor one primary purpose. He gives up his sTudy periods previously spenT in laughTer and Talk To bury himselT in The depThs oT Gaul and Ceaser. lT requires Tremendous will power To keep his hands aT his sides and his characTer pure when a parTicularly domineering member oT The Honor Service League venTs his personalify upon him. And Tor whaT? The ArisTa looms as a Tar OTT sTar in a serene sky To many oT The sTudenTs oT our school. All Through Their High School careers a greaT many SewardiTes have ambiTions oT joining The ArisTa. SomeTimes This ambiTion Tades wiTh The appearance OT The age old TormenTor, The Tell-Tale reporT card. BuT mosT Times, The sTudenT sTruggles Through his sTudies wiTh The hope ThaT he will graduaTe a member oT The noble ArisTa. ln his sevenTh Term, This parTicular sTudenT believes he is ready To apply Tor membership, a biT laTe buT beTTer laTe Than never J AT lasT he is called beTore The ArisTa Assembly lThe members oT The ArisTal Tor quesTioning. He waTches hisl Tellow- applicanTs-Tor-membership emerge Trom The mysTerious Assembly chamber and Tries To inTerpreT The baTTled, half TrighTened, halT relieved expression on The Taces oT The Tormer vicTims. Oh, he solemnly promises his conscience, IT I 'should become a member l'll never ask any applicanT a guesTion, never. When The ordeal is over he emerges Trom The chamber, wiTh a wry smile, halT TrighTened and halT relieved, re- peaTing his resoluTion. Well, The anxious sevenTh Termer becomes an ArisTa member in his Senior Term. Added To The burden oT iusTiTying The Term Senior is The TiTle ArisTa Member . 'Whereas his nose would have been adiusTed aT righT angles had he borne only The TirsT honor, his nose is carried in ya compleTe sTraighT angle wiTh The addiTion oT The second posiTion. AT lasT The advenT of quesTioning new applicanTs is approaching and has arrived. A shaky voiced sTudenT enTers wiTh a Torced smile on his Tace. The presidenT goes Through The various TormaliTies due an applicanT and Tinally asks, Are There any quesTions you would like To ask The candidaTe? The once TerriTied sevenTh Term applicanT who has now reached The heighTs oT presTige rises. Madame PresidenT, l have a quesTion To ask The candidaTe. Gone is The promise made To himselT .abouT asking no quesTions. Gone is everyThing buT The ioy of sporT, The pleasure oT The game. He Torges on. As a prospecTive ArisTa member you should be capable oT answering any .quesTion I seT To you. Will you please Tell me oT The belieTs and wriT- ings oT The Greek SocraTes? The gasps oT his Tellow members, The blanching oT The cheek oT The cornered applicanT, disTurb him noT. He siTs. down amid The applause oT his own conscience, and in compleTe peace wiTh The world. Lillian Vogel Page Twelve

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THE ALMANAC ON TI-IE I-IORIZON N The horizon, on ThaT shrouded plane we call The TuTure, lie our lives. The shroud may IiTT someTimes, and give us a momenTary glance inTo our lives. BuT all To oTTen iT sTays down, hiding Trom us The possible TuITilImenT oT our dreams, our prayers, our desires. Then iT is up To us To Tear The veil aparT. And To Tear The veil aparT, we musT TirsT give all our sTrengTh, all our courage and mind To. The work which we have seT Tor ourselves in This IiTe. Only by ceaseless, earnesT endeavor can we hope To Tind, when our rac eis over and we are waiTing Tor The reTerees To give a decision, ThaT The veil is no longer down. And whaT will we see on The oTher side? Will we see vicTory, glorious, glamor- ous vicTory, vicTory ThaT means we have noT given. our lives To The cause in vain, or will we see deTeaT? And iT we see deTeaT, will iT be a deTeaT oT which we are noT ashamed, a deTeaT ThaT means we played The game cleanly and hard, and only wenT down because The adds were Too greaT, or will iT be a deTeaT ThaT will show The world The slaclcer, The grumbler, The ne'er-do well ThaT has been hidden in our souls? Will we be proud oT This deTeaT, conscious ThaT e losT Through no TaulT oT our own, WhaT ThaT veil will reveal is being shaped by our hands every minuTe oT our lives, and if Those hands are indusTrious and eager, we need never Tear The liTTing oT ThaT shroud, conscious ThaT whaTever iT shows is The besT we can ever oTTer. Nicholas Cherepowich TEMPERAMEIXIT WiTh heavy, dirTy, gray sTones I will build my prison Far inTo The gray heavens WiTh The sweaT oT my work on my brow, WiTh The sweaT oT my labor in my palms. Finished, I will gaze Through The barred windows To The piTying people, So Tar, Tar in The misT below. WiTh Their piTy in Their sTaring eyes, In The bend oT Their upTurned heads: In The planT oT Their widespread TeeT. PiTying my loneliness, my aloneness, I will gloaT, In my loneliness, my aloneness Far Trom Their eyes and Their heads and Their TeeT. And up in The darlc prison oT my own making Lillian Vogel Page Eleven

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CLASS OF JANUARY I'-735 . BED TIME STORY Time To go To bed, junior. Aw, I don'T wanna go To bed. AImosT bed Time. Come now, don'T be sTubborn. Aw righT, daddy. BuT TirsT Tell me a sTory. Oh, well, iT ThaT will saTisTy you, I suppose I'lI have To. N a cold February day, a bewildered, iiTTery group oT children enTered The new Seward Park High School. They looked so clean, you could Tell aT once Thar The previous nighT had wiTnessed sTeaming baThTubs wiTh soapy washrags busily plying Their Trade above and below The equaToriaI line. Their cloThes were neaT and looked as Though much care had been spenT in Their selecTion. When They arrived aT The building, several kind looking genTlemen gave Them some TaTherly advice on how To enioy The years They would spend in Seward. Hardly had They been senT To Their classes, when school session sTarTed. They were dubbed Freshman by The resT oT The sTudenTs. The usual hazing Took place. Wherever The Freshmen wenT They meT cold sTares: whenever They were losT or wanTed To Tind ouT how To go To a parTicuIar place in The building, They were sure To be given The wrong direcTions, and They were made The vicTims oT a Thousand and one oTher pracTical iokes. Be'sides This, so many new Things, The exisTence oT which They had never known, swepT pasT Them so ThaT They were IeTT quiTe dizzy. A ForTnighTIy ThaT had The appearance oT a real meTropoliTan newspaper, a Folio conTaining arTicIes wiTh a proTessionaI Touch, a dramaTizaTion, RoIlo's Wild OaTs, in which Teachers Took The roles, an opereTTa, The Mikado, in which sTudenTs sang Their way inTo everyone's hearT, TooTball games, baskeTbaII games, aTTer school clubs, all whizzed passed wiTh such sTarTIing rapidiTy. And beTore The Freshman real- ized iT, They were Sophomores. Several hundred addiTions Trom The iunior high schools came To boIsTer This group. EveryThing ThaT The Freshmen oT a year beTore had enioyed, were also en- joyed by The Sophomores. The only change was ThaT The ForTnighTIy changed iTs name To The Seward World. The Two annual perTormances were parTicularIy ouT- sTanding. The sophomores Thrilled and chilled aT The GhosT Train, and The melodies oT The PiraTes oT Penzance were hummed Tor weeks aTTer The acTuaI perTormance. Then came The boaT ride. The once Timid, buT now budding, girls oT a year ago, were escorTed by TasT growing men and They all liked iT! Page ThirTeen