High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 8 text:
“
Where are you going?” Since the beginning of our lives this is the question constantly asked of us. Sometimes it is phrased differently: “What will you be? , “Do you have any future plans?”, Why are you doing that?”. Attempting to answer this question hundreds of problems confront us. For some, the ques- tions are easily answered. These are the people who go nowhere because they want to go nowhere. The others think and wonder about their destination in life, and to them the question “Quo Vadis seems almost unanswerable. quo To most of us during the first six years of our lives “Quo Vad- is was meaningless because we were dependent upon our parents for the answer. They told lis what to do. what not to do. where to go. where not to go. The first time the question began to have meaning was the day our parents told us, You’re going to school!” “School? What’s that!” We soon found out. No longer did we have a hand to hold: no familiar face was near for secu- rity. We were left at the door of the elementary school and for the first time the outside world began U have a powerful influence. Some of us decided then what the future would be; others never really decided. Kit her way the first years of our school life were very important. They shajred our lives and gave us clues to where we were going — but also presented us with a whole new set of decisions to make. First decision was to make up our mind that we would learn to like school. Eventually we stopped crying when our mot hers left us at the front door. Every year, then on with grade promotions, we were faced with more insistence, What are von going to he when you grow up?” (in other words, Where are you going?”). We usually answered with the obvious — teacher, nurse, fireman, or with the extreme and say, A famous archaeologist”, or ex- plore] or the glamorous life, a movie star”. At any account, it answered the question for .the time. When we reached junior high, we began to see the world differently. The problems became more intricate. Society with all its problems began to exert its influence. Now more decisions faced us. Skipping classes or not skipping classes? Once we tried it and got away with it. Skipping classes became either a habit or a mere pleasure. When questioned “Quo Vadis' those of us who repeatedly skipped classes answered No where!” To some drugs and the temptation for the easy way” was the answer to “Quo Vadis?
”
Page 9 text:
“
VADIS However, most of os decided that if we were to go someplace, marks would get us there. So we studied, (not all the time or as much as we should have) hut at least we passed fifteen points. Others of us joined as many extracurricular activities as we could. Sometimes these clubs provided us with valuable experi- ences; other times they hindered us because we became too in- volved and neglected our schoolwork. All in all. we usually man- aged to achieve passing grades. Why we wanted passing grades, many of us didn’t know! Annually, teachers asked us to fill out cards with “Future Plans’’. Many of us merely made the information up to satisfy the “information getters. Yet the question made us think. “What am I going to do when I leave Somerville High; where am I going — “Quo Vadis”? Although SHS tried to help us answer, many of us did not realize it. High School tried to give us the subjects that would help us most in what we finally decided to do. Most of the time, students felt that the subjects we were forced to take were not relevant to what we were going to do when we were graduated. For instance, subjects such as trigono- metry, chemistry and Knglish were considered irrelevant! Yet even if we were never to use these subjects, at least we would have some background knowledge in case we did need it. When? Who knew? Some of us still didn’t know where we were going in the senior year! Besides academic problems, high school presented us with a whole new set of complex problems. We had to decide which group of friends to associate with, what was the moral and ethi- cal thing to do and what was not. At times the pressures seemed almost unbearable. But one thing remained — if we could cope with these problems and pressures then we were leaving school with more than just a diploma of academic achievement. We were leaving school with some ideas as to what we were going to do and what we were not going to do. Long anticipated, June of 1971 and graduation arrived. Inde- pendence! However, although we were happy about the prospect of finishing high school, we realized that now school could no longer protect us from society and adult responsibilities. Boys would have to worry about being accepted into college and being non-accepted by the draft. Girls would have to worry about whether they could get a job or if they would be accepted into college. Yet, now that graduation is finally here, all of us will have to find someplace to go when wre wake up in the morning. High school no longer will be there. If we want to achieve something we will have to do it ourselves. Finally, we realize whether those thirteen (or more) years of school — filled with happiness and sorrow, achievements and failures, triumphs and defeats — were wasted or not. Class of 1971, Quo Vadis? Catherine Agostino tit cihtor
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
