Siskiyou Union High School - White and Gold Yearbook (Weed, CA)

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M S o 2 Z 6 o BEST ESSAY Did you ever try to imagine your years of school as a highway to your future life? At the end lie peace, prosperity, and happiness. Whether you get there or not depends upon you. That is the way the course of life is charted. You Hrst venture onto the highway when you start grade school. The road seems strange and new at Hrst, but soon it broadens and smoothens. The first few years form a gentle sloping upgrade that is not at all hard to travel upon. Friendly teachers become shade trees to comfort and help you, while others, that you don't happen to get along with, seem rather like bramble bushes. About the Hfth year, the highway narrows and steepens a little and you begin to wonder if you like this journey or not. There are sideroads that look interesting and decidedly easier going than the Highway. Here is one-the Lane of Loafing-a sunny path that many grade school stu- dents take when they think it's too much to trudge up the main road. This way go the day-dreamers, and those who think teasing each other and the teacher is much more fun than studying arithmetic. If and when they get back on the beaten track, they find it doubly hard to catch up with the rest. Ahead is a bridge. This is grade-school graduation, a destination which is possible for everyone in this modern age. After crossing the bridge, the Highway becomes broader yet, even though it slopes ever upward. As you go along, from time to time, the sky clears, and you can catch glimpses of your destination far down the highway. High school offers a wide variety of subjects, and to travel most wisely and profitably, you choose the ones to your future occupation. Somewhere along the way, you discover that some of your fellow- travelers are going along with no real objective in mind, just to get through school because they have to, and to skim over the road as easily as possible. There are more side roads than ever, now that you are in high school, and sometimes the temptation to try them is hard to resist. One is the habit of skipping school constantly while bluffing teachers about your work. Many students wander off on this path, and have fun on their little jaunt, but it won't lead them to a real future. What you do or don't learn in school is your own fate later on. Another is the Road to Wfork, which students take when they quit school to work. They ind later that an edu- cation is necessary for a good job, but they must struggle on toward some lost objective. If you successfully sidetrack these and other pitfalls, and graduate from high school, you are again at a crossroads. One way is to step off the High- way of Education and be satisfied, but this is to be discouraged. Ahead lie miles of opportunity and challenge. A college education for everyone is the goal of the future, and with this greater knowledge properly used, we should be able to build a better and more peaceful world. NORMA MILLER '49 Butte Valley High School

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Jlcghw SECOND PLACE ESSAY What do we mean when we say highways to world understanding and happiness? The highways are the paths over which civilization passes. Where the road is weak and storm-worn, progress is set back or stopped. Then men of courage and truth must again repair the way. In discussing this subject I will divide it into three topics: social gains, material gains, and spiritual progress of mankind since the first men tried democracy. By social gains we mean political and social advancements. It seems that even some ancient peoples practiced democracy. It was not, however, tried and proved successful until the newly-born United States declared that all men were born equal and should remain so. Government is for the betterment of the people as a whole and not the people for the betterment of the government, as in dictatorshipis. These were our ideals, that were established in 1776. Men make mistakes, though, and we have not yet secured the true democracy that our fore-fathers declared and fought for. We have not developed in wisdom necessary for an ideal government, because there are still many men who are not incorruptible. In material gains there is no doubt that we have advanced swiftly, however, our spiritual progress and judgment have failed to keep up with our knowledge and achievements. The result is that we continue to solve problems by using our material strength to talk for us instead of logic and tolerance. Wars seem to be the only settlement, when actually they only pit hatred deeper in the hearts of those involved. No doubt spiritual development is the most important part of the great highway of civilization, as all these social and material achievements could not have been possible had it not been for the human spirit. We seem to forget our heart and conscience when dealing with some of the other na- tions. Do we not boast too much of our great knowledge and material strength? It seems to me that men should think less about threats and should earnestly try to establish peace and understanding that would benent the greater part of humanity, instead of only a favored few. And if the world leaders would pave the highway with sturdy blocks of tolerance, love, and generosity, we would gain a truer and more complete happiness. Thus the road, no matter what the course, or who the builders may be, would lead peoples to world understanding and friendship. EARL PALMER ,49 McCloud High School