Wellesley High School - Wellesleyan Yearbook (Wellesley, MA)

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WELLESLEY HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL IVe, the Senior Class of 1931 dedicate the first issue of The Welleslev Senior High School Annual to our principal Ralph W . Proctor whose unceasing ejforts have made this publication possible

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WELLESLEY HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL Page 4

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WELLESLEY HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL DR. S. MONROE GRAVES AFTER “SCHOOL”, THEN WHAT? One of the most fascinating experiences of life is forecasting. Especially is this true when one is in one’s teens. Often a person, as he or she grows into years of discretion, likes to con¬ template the future. “What am I going to be when I grow up?” or “What type of worker am I to be when I actually go to work for com¬ pensation?” are questions which all people at some time in their lives have asked themselves. The significance of such questions is very important. The subjective judgment of the individual at such times may delve deeply into the inner nature to find out, if possible, the meanings of some of the “Whys” which the in¬ dividual self often asks regarding its own iden¬ tity, its own relationships, its own significance, and its own “whereforeness.” The answers to such questions which one may ask oneself at such times may be very reveal¬ ing and occasionally quite startling in the dis¬ closures. If, for example, the individual is by nature very timid in meeting people a problem at once presents itself in relation even to of¬ fering oneself as a candidate for a position or in meeting for the first time staff members of a school in which one has just enrolled as a pupil. That which may be even more disconcerting is boldness, or, as it sometimes is worded, having a superabundance of the “ego” which usually does manifest itself as “boldness.” The interviewer in each of the type of in¬ stances presented is unfairly impressed. He probably will believe that, in the case of the timid personality, there will not be sufficient “force to “put things across.” In the case of the over-developed ego, he may feel hesi¬ tancy in undertaking the task, which he may feel is necessary, of “making” the individual acquire a “proper” perspective of his own im¬ portance or unimportance in the world of affairs. When business men and business women are developing their own stores or other lines, what¬ ever they may be, they are very careful to take frequent inventories. Usually these in¬ ve ntories list just the amount of goods on hand, estimating the value of each commodity and not omitting the summary which may be writ¬ ten as the grand total of assets as far as the stock in trade is concerned. It so happens, of course, that even in or¬ dinary business affairs there are many related values aside from the actual commodities on the shelves. One might mention the “good will” of the buying public, which indeed is a very valuable asset and one which oftentimes influences in large measure the selling power of a shopkeeper or a firm of shopkeepers. Likewise in the case of the individual who is taking a true inventory of his own personality the “good will” of his instructors, the true understanding of the regular school officers, the reaction of the people in the town whom he occasionally meets, the “reflections” of his own personal friends,—all assuredly have intrin¬ sic value. As youth forecasts the possibilities of mature age, it oftentimes overlooks the truisms of the present. If one is over-selfish as a boy or girl of sixteen, will one be less over-selfish as a man or woman in college or in business? If one is over-sensitive or too much outspoken as a youth, will one be less so when “of age”? If one is balky or lazy at graduation from the Senior High School, will one be amenable to suggestions and hardworking when a college graduate or when one has been given a job? If one is careless of one’s daily habits and one’s moral responsibilities when young, will one be different when one is old? “What shall I be?” “What kind of worker shall I become?” are questions which, as far as the future is concerned, must be answered in terms of the present. Far up in the azure sky one beholds the swiftly moving tri-motored plane as it wings Page 6