Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 17 text:

THROUGH A VIEW-MASTER Oh, how I long for that land far away, For the silver sand where the children play. For the foam-tipped surf and the birds on high, The dark green palms ' neath the pale blue sky. Oh, how I long for that far-away land, For the redwoods far from the silver sand, For Patrick ' s Point, and Custer ' s Tree, All of which I hope to see. Oh, liow I long for that land far away Where the medicine-man and the brave hold sway, Where the chief and his tribe, in their strange attire Hold council round a leaping fire. Now that my lovely dream is past, Fve travelled far and I ' ve travelled fast. But some day soon I hope to view The beautifvil scenes I ' ve described to you. ITH A SAD, tear-stained face, she walked into the room and sat down Vt quietly by the window. She felt as though she could cry no more; as though all the tears that bad ever been inside her were gone forever. She was beginning to get over the shock of losing her parents in such a rjiiick imbearable way, but now she felt loneliness and misery creeping in. ■ ' Plane crash . She would never be able to read or hear those terrible, biting words again without re-living the moment she had so recently gone through. ' lien that telegram arrived, telling her that the plane carrying her parents home had crashed into the sea with no survivors, she had not been able to realize that she would never see them again. It had taken nearly two days for her to understand that there would be no Hi ya, sugarplum from her father, aiul no Who ' s the heartbreaker this time ' ; ' from her adored mother; there wouM be just no anything. Jane Allison, Form IVu, Ross House. REVELATION [15]

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My next lesson is how not to do Latin translation. This time lie on your back with your knees doubled up to support your book. Write the English translation above the Latin in the textbook: this makes it confusing, as it involves a great deal of erasing which practically obliterates the original text. My next bit of advice is, if you can ' t do the translation, pretend you did the wrong piece. Then if you are asked to translate during class you can look very much surprised and exclaim, O, I did the wrong one! This is good if you can get away with it. If the mistress is wise to this excuse, however, don ' t even attempt to do ihe assignment, and just hope you won ' t be asked. Next we come to history. If you are among the poor unfortunates who have to take notes during class, be sure to s cribble them down making abbreviations which you will not be able to deciplier later. Dreaming is another delightful habit to acquire, which will probably account for the many gaps in your notes. Then leave these notes until the night before you are asked to hand them in. This results in near writer ' s cramp and a cranky disposition, because it took you half the night to copy them into your good notebook. I might add that this procedure is sure to give you an A. French will be the subject of our next discussion. Most pupils find this language very difficult, but if you follow my expert advice I am confident that your marks will go up considerably. For example, if the assignment is to learn verbs and a vocabulary, find the noisiest room in the house, preferably one where your brother is playing with the dog. Turn the radio on — to a comedian if possible — and settle down on the nearest sofa. Turn to the right page, look at the verbs disgustedly and decide that Bob Hope is much more agreeable. After half an hour of this diligent studying, having tried to concentrate above the sound of the radio and the barking of the dog, decide you know the French well enough, and give it up as a bad job. This last bit of advice is intended for people who are asked to write an essay on just anything . Don ' t sit down and do any constructive thinking; that would be fatal — you would be sure to think of something; and as for looking up ideas in a reference book — perish the thought! Just phone one of the girls and discuss the situation. From my experience I predict that when you have finished you will be in the same position as when you started — confused. Finallv in desperation write on a tired old subject which half tlie class will use too: but don ' t let that worry you, it ' s a minor detail. When you start to write, don ' t do a rough copy — it calls for extra work. .lust put your essay right on to good paper: this makes the job of correcting twice the work. My last suggestion is an important one: no punctuation. It ' s too easy to read with silly little details like periods and commas stuck here and there. Make it as brief as possible: long essays are always so interesting! In closing I would just like to add, if anyone finds my course successful ■ — please let me know. Wendy Child, Form Vb, Gumming House.

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She sat there, gazing out of the window — the feeling of loneliness again swept over her, and the tears she thought herself incapable of shedding started again. Why had God done this to her? She had prayed so very earnestly that her parents would be brought home safely; she could not have prayed much harder. Yet, it had happened. He had done this terrible thing. Why? She vowed loudly and fervently that she would never believe in God again. NEVER. She would never pray again, not as long as she lived. She kept repeating these words over and over, until finally, through the mixture of a fear-clouded mind and a lonely heart, she realized what she had been saying. Witli realization came self-condemnation. What had happened to her? She felt ashamed and unworthy. In all humility she got down on her knees and prayed as she had never prayed before. She asked God ' s forgiveness for being so faitldess, and asked Him to help her never to become so weak again. She knew it would be hard without lier mother and father, but she also knew, although they were gone, she must work as hard as she possibly could to make them proud of her. She would try, and with God ' s help she would succeed. For the first time since she had received the news, she smiled through her tears. She got up, and, as she quietly walked out of the room, she saw, back- stage, the proud look on the faces of her parents. The final curtain went down, and, by the applause of the audience, she knew she had played her part well. Anne Berry, Form Vb, Ross House. CARMINA LATINA ' ' Spem Successus Alit Spem successus alit nostri ludi dictum est, Sed ut successum habeamus laborandum est. Debemus igitur omni nocte sine dubio Habere quattuor discenda et quinque nimdina. Spem successus alit Is the motto of our school. But, so that we may have success. Hard work must be the rxile. That, then, is the reason why We certainly can depend On having four lessons every night, And five on the week-end. Judy Cliff, Form Va, Gumming House. Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit When ordered very suddenly I looked at Prose and Poetry , Scribere Latine, Nepotem et Caesarem, Non potui arbitrari Sed ibi nihil inveni Of anything to say. To solve my great problem. So, after thinking many days. Poem a inceptum est. Opus confectum nunc babes, But not like Vergil ' s best ! Barbara Davison, Form Va, Ross House. [16]