Stratford Central Secondary School - Collegian Yearbook (Stratford, Ontario Canada)

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COILLEGIAN, 1930 as 3 - 3 J R3 2' . ix' fzf -g In 5 2,4 Tj fa 3 J I I 1:-XM , :lil lv if fffi ' I ' Al - -- 1- - I ' I in -1 : ,safes is 11 22 Zgnlilif Arg -, M, rg L 2 5-:Sign H lil. 151, I 4' Y ffl' J' - fl, gt -ical --'FF .gi j Ir 5 ,,.. ' e Q ,K ,sf -.fgil ,a Ml ,, Wm ,giflj ll , :I-'I C C N Vbluznc Ten ST R1 TF OR D, ONT. May 1930 FOREIVORD BY' THE PRINCIPAL GZUITH this number, the Collegian celebrates another anniver- sary. It again appears before you with the written record of the Collegiate activities during that period. I am glad to add tribute to the wgay in which this very excellent journal has served the best interests of the Collegiate. However the ideals of successive editors may have varied in other respects. they have all been devoted to their school's welfare and they have had no mean part in winning for Stratford Collegiate the reputation which it enjoys among the collegiates of the province. I comm-end the journal, its editor and her very efficient staff. May success attend their efforts. Stratford Collegiate has its own school spirit. To know just what that means, one has only to read the history of the institution. It is the element in which the school lives, progresses, and has its being. I am not speaking of something external but of that deeper and delicate quality suggestive of w-illing sacrifice and essential interest and am- bition which alone deserves the name of school spirit. Ambition to see the Stratford Collegiate foremost in every field of activity, which goes to make up a successful school career, is everywhere most appar- ent. As I have said before, it must be remembered that a secondary school education is not only a preparation for life but it is a real life in itself. To one with no knowledge of 'the inner working of a school, it must seem little short of miraculous to see what is undertaken and accomplished by the students during the school year. He soon realizes that our school life is by no means of a limited nature, for as well as the academic, which of course must never be lost sight of, we have the dramatic, the musical, the athletic and the oratorical, all of which yield a grand aggregate in rounding out a school life and spirit that has far- reaching results in any community. Nearly every useful walk in life is represented in our school life of today and no one can enter Stratford Collegiate and give of his or her best without receiving something of infinite value in return. Many centuries ago, Plato recognized the necessity that there should be toil at learning as well as gymnastics. I have been in .-.ll...

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PV. L. SPR UZVG, BA Przkzvizbaf

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COLLEGIAN, l93O Contact with student-life long enough to come to the conclusion that failure in scholarship in nine cases out of ten is due to the student's failure to give his or her best efforts and best thoughts to the task at hand. Character must be built upon a sense of responsibility for the task that confronts a student whether in school, in college, or in after life, and there is no stimulating tonic for the strengthening of the character equal to that of the satisfaction of the day's work faithfully done. Iam sure all appreciate the many delightful distractions in school life. They should prove, however. a help and not a hindrance in a school career. The pleasures of life become permanently satisfying only when there is a background of work definitely and conscientiously accomplished. The program of true happiness and content in student- life is the task of the day conscientiously faced and performed, then the hours of recreation, personal contacts, and the companionships in the common pursuits of campus life will be justly prized. I believe that every student of Stratford Collegiate is most anxious to uphold her glorious traditions, but this can be accomplished only by each and everyone devoting his very best efforts to that which refines and up- lifts human life. S UC C ESS Success is an extremely important subject to us. What is Suc- cess ? The dictionary says a favourable termination of anything at- tempted. I think a more lucid definition would be: Success is the at- taining to some degree the ideals set before one. I say to some de- gree, advisedly as you will see in a following paragraph. Success is not to be judged from the outside, but the inside. You and you only will be able to judge whether you are a success or not. Likewise it is for you and you only to determine whether you will be a success or not. It does not depend upon the amount of brains you have or the amount of money behind you. It is the amount of work YOU do. Many say, Oh, yes, I will be a success! Wlhen I leave school I will work hard. What I do to-day doesn't count. That is the sen- tence of failure of many men who are working for less than twenty dollars a week. Every day each and every student is building into him- self the results of his labour. If you do not acquire 'NOW those habits and powers of mind that will make you a success you will probably never get them. You can not change the working of your mind with the act of stepping over the threshold from school into life, big and menacing. Let us consider some of the things that help us towards success. One of the first essentials of success is that we choose a career. This is seemingly a ridiculous statement. Surely, you say, everybody has some ambitions. It is sad, but, I believe true, that very many high-school students have no ambition other than to start working at an early age to make a little pocket money. In considering a profession or trade it is well to keep some re- quirements in mind with which to measure your prospective job. In -12-