Virginia Commonwealth University - Cobblestone Wigwam Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

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Virginia Commonwealth University Archives INTRODUCTION Richmond Professional Institute ... a world in itself . . . with standards, perspectives, capacity ... to mold, to develop . . . for each, for all . . . Characteristic entities . . . the people, the structures . . . their facades and interi- ors . . . each a segment of a complex unity . . . rushing, seldom still ... to meet destinies . . . desired, unknown . . . Straining to understand . . . continuous movement, demands of functioning . . . amidst the whimsical and the concrete . . . good and bad . . . right and wrong . . . Progressive patterns . . . bring rebukes and scorn . . . from shortsighted minds . . . which ultimately reap . . . with the innovators . . . the fruits of progress . . . Transition envelops them . . . day to month to year . . . ideas like structures expand and grow ... to fill chang- ing needs . . . Building . . . more than a tradition ... a leg- acy . . . tangible and intangible ... of pride, knowledge, and distinction . . . with talent, service, patience . . . with bricks and mortar . . . They are reflected in concrete and steel and glass ... in tearing down and building up ... in living, learning, loving . . . Involvement . . . with themselves, with others . . . enduring, transient . . . op- posing apathy ... a stealthy interloper ... a silent de- stroyer ... of ideals, of rewards . . . Creating images . . . physically, spiritually, socially . . . offbeat and conserva- tive . . . working side by side . . . towards self-expres- sion . . . happiness . . . the summit . . . Endeavoring to justify . . . individual existence, purposeful rebellion, youth . . . they are praised, admonished, ridiculed . . . wavering and shaken . . . frequently . . . not permanently . . . Islands unto themselves . . . groping, discovering . . . seeking to relate ... to the whole, to one . . . straining to understand . . . non-existent boundaries, transition . . . Advancing in number, in character . . . from obscurity to recognition . . . encompassed in an aura of uniqueness . . . stemming from within . . . Dynamic scion of the urban society . . . unique and contributing . . . enjoying its col- orful character . . . thriving on its motley environment . . . endeavoring to keep barriers down ... to entry, to de- parture, to detachment ... A child . . . innocence in the dirt ... an old man . . . lost to society . . . socially dis- joined but physically integrated . . . with the academic sphere . . . They come . . . and they are gone ... so swiftly . . . these four years ... of intensive living ... of laughter and of tears ... of frustration and of fulfillment ... of preparation for more complete existence . . .

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