Standish High School - Crimson Rambler Yearbook (Standish, ME)

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Americanization Nwhat is Americanization?N To me it is the opportunities that America offers to her people. Hwhat are these opportun- ities?N Let us follow the life of an immigrant who has never had these opportunities and see what they are. This immigrant's name is Max Alban, he is just one of many persons who wishes to find oeace and freedom, and he has CODIS to America. I am proud that he has chosen America. He is on a boat coming to the harbor of New York. He is at the boats railing looking at the Statue of Liberty. He sees the tall lady which stands for freedom. He feels proud and he says to the person beside him, that stands for all I ever wanted, to be let alone and feel as though I wasn't being told what When he gets to New York, he finds the wav to Grand Station. It is here that he has his first real taste of freedom America offers. He goes uo to the ticket office asks for a ticket to a town where a friend lives. There to do. Central the and are no questions such as: Why are you going here? When are you going? How long are you going to be there? Then someone tell- ing him he can't go because they don't like his answers and don't believe he is telling the truth. When Max as to what to showed itself. This was the eager help which the people Alban arrived at his friends town he was lost do next, but one of the forms of Americanism of the town offered him. They gave him information and helped him out even though he was a stranger and a foreigner. This didn't make any difference to real Americans. Another thing which Max enjoyed was his choice of jobs, No one told him he had to do this and pay this and that. He got a job which he liked and enjoyed one of his first freedoms of free enterorise, the right to choose his own job. When he got this job he noticed another thing, that there was no discrimination. One of the great things about America is that it follows the rule, HAll Ten are Created Equa1.n Once Max got in an accident and it was then that he found another form of Americanism. This was the free courts and the right that a person is innocent until proven guilty. right is one of the true forms of Americanism. This Max Alban had been living in the United States the required amount of time and was learninj all the subjects required to become naturalized. Studying of the history of the United States he found out how hard it had been for the earlv Americans to establish freedom. He learned that Americans had wanted free- dom so bad that thev had united themselves together. They had beaten the strongest army of that great day and age in the

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Finally, we all retired for the night. The house, was very silent except for an occasional snore here and there. Crash! Ban 1 Such a noise and such yelling and screaming'you never heargf It sounded as though the roof had fallen in. - I was sleeping downstairs and as I passed through the upstairs hallway I saw some very peculiar sights. The women all looked as though they had just seen a ghost. Finally I reached the attic, and there I burst into peals of laughter. Mom and Dad were on the floor with the head and foot boards of the bed collapsed on top of them! Mom was laughing amid the uproar, but no such sounds emerged from Dad! He was thoroughly disgusted. NI knew that old bed was ready to collapse, we should have slept on the floor to begin with.N They crawled out from the wreck to'finish sleeping the night out. I went back downstairs and told the boarders not to worry that everything was all right and for them to go back to sleep. The rest of the night was uneventful. , Mom was instructed by Dad not to let any boarders have their bedroom again no matter how disappointed they looked. Ulf they can't find any place to-stay, tell them we would be delighted to set them up a bed in the atticln Norma Brown '55

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world and later the strongest navy in the world for that right of a free government.whereamen.might choose their own laws for the best of everyone because a ter all they were the ones who had to obey these rules. lt was in the first reading of the WUnited States Constitutionn and the NDeclaration of Independencen that he realized these were some of the greatest papers ever written. They expressed the right of the people to have more freedom than any one else had had since the time of the Roman Empire. Another thing which Carl Max was proud of as well as we are, WThe Four Freedomsn. In our country,men may go to whatever church they wish to. They have no fear, there are plenty of products which give us freedom from want. The freedom of speech, this country shows a great value of Americanization in its freedom to speak in public, on the radio, and in the newspapers. I am proud that our country is one of the few countries where men may criticize their country and its government for its own good and benefit. America's freedom is one of her greatest resources. This freedom leads to greater and better ways of production. This country doesn't have much more resources than any other country but the American way of life can produce more and better products because of its free enterprise. There is the freedom Max's children had. The right that America offers her children such as free education, free libraries, hospitals, and one of the best values are the t values of sportsmanship that America teaches her children through competitive sports. When Max grew old and became unable to work or if he became crippled on his job he would get a compensation, established through such benefits as social security,and old age pension. This is one of the privileges that Max could not have enjoyed if he were in the old country. These freedoms enjoyed by Max and his children are enjoyed by every person in the United States if they take advantage of the inheritance left to them by their forefathers To me these are privileges of freedom which every American enjoys and can be proud ofa are as follows: l. The right of a person to travel anywhere they wish without interference from their government. 2. The willingness of the American people to help one another when in need. 3. That all men are created equal regardless of race, creed or religion.