Windsor Locks High School - Herald Yearbook (Windsor Locks, CT)

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28 THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD There are numerous undeveloped natural resources and bevies of articles to be manufactured in spile of the cries of over production. There are thousands of needy who could take over the surplus that is being purposely wasted or destroyed. The trouble seems to arise from the fact that the dollar has been made into a deity to be worshiped by all who would live on this earth. Such are the conditions in which the present generation finds itself. If the future generation is to solve the problems arising from such condi¬ tions, it evidently needs different standards and ideals by which to mold its life. And as that new generation is now in the country’s schools it is up to those institutions to furnish worthy standards. The school can teach its pupi.s to live more for others, and to do away with the selfish, grasping greed which puts a dollar bill before a human life. It can do its share in eradicating the idea of that terrific competition which breeds jealousies and brings about hatred of one man for (another. Finally, each individual person who has ever in his life attended any school whatever must be taught the true value of his citizenship and how to use it. It is somew hat terrify¬ ing to realize that in a short time many of the members of this very class will be helping to rule our country and that we know practically nothing about how this should be done. If the schools can send forth the youth of America equipped with higher ideals, a more democratic interest in its fellow-men, a thorough knowledge for exercising its citizenship, and the habit of doing as well as dreaming, certainly that youth will be royally equipped to meet the problems which it shall encounter. Anna Shykula, ’33 ESSAY. Motto: “Success Crowns Patient Effort.’’ What is Success? In my opinion, it is doing what you can do well w ithout thinking of fame. Ther are two kinds ot success: first, there is a so-called success which is to be avoided. To acquire wealth or fame by sacrificing moral principle is always an unfortunate venture. If after completing his busi¬ ness career all that a person can show is money or pleasure, he is an object of pity rather than of congratulation; for he has paid too much for what he has gained. True manhood and womanhood are far greater than riches or fame, and if these are obtained, life is not a failure though one lives in poverty. On the other hand, without these all the wealth and fame in the w’orld are worthless possessions. The other kind ot success is that which comes through honest means The first step in reaching this type of success is to select (a vocation and apply yourself to it. Application is “sticking to one’s business ” Note the men in every community who have great ability but w ' ho never get ahead It usually turns out that they are the ones who never stick to any one occu¬ pation long enough to be promoted. Pursue the work you have chosen per-

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THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD 27 GRADUATION NIGHT PROGRAM SALUTATORY. Members of the Board of Education, Teachers, Parents, and Friends:— It is an honor to be able to welcome you here tonight in behalf of the class of 1933. We appreciate the interest you have shown in all of our ac¬ tivities and we sincerely hope you may be pleased with these, our commence¬ ment exercises: THE SCHOOL AND THE FUTURE GENERATION Problems of all kinds have overwhelmed the country in the last three years; and though America seems to have started breathing nor¬ mally again, many more years will be consumed before these problems are solved. In the years to come America will depend upon the school boys and girls of today to help her. Will the school have prepared those boys and girls for their duties? No one can dispute the influence of the school on the types of citi¬ zens that are sent out into the country to comprise each succeeding genera¬ tion. Because of this indisputable fact it is necessary that as world condi¬ tions change schools, especially those representing the masses, should in¬ clude in their curricula methods for teaching their students how to fit into and deal with the new conditions. The machine has revolutionized modern life. These huge creations of the human mind have turned upon their very makers who are realizing that they cannot handle their own inventions. Evidently, life couldn’t help but change when such machines, turning out ten times as much and ten times as fast, came into being. Take for your example of modern efficiency an electric power house controlling the water which irrigates a large terri¬ tory. A great engine hums and the wall is decorated with dials. Not a soul is in sight. A telephone rings. From a nqar-by cottage comes a trim little woman. The Lava Bed Ranch wants water. She pushes a button, pulls a lever, waits a few moments until the telephone rings. The ranch has re¬ ceived its water; and she goes back to her housekeeping! But what about the men, those men who would formerly have been running different parts of just such a system ? Many of them are starving, no doubt, in the midst of plenty, and more than plenty, surplus! Why? Must only a few, motivated by greed and private profit, reap wealth while others suffer for lack of even the necessities of life? Must there always be that struggle for mere bread in a world where there are so many nobler things to be done? If those machines are so efficient now they are bound to become more and more efficient as time goes on. Then why not develop them to their highest perfection and put them to work? America has not reached its height of civilization. There are many things still to be accomplished.

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THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD 29 sistently, industriously, hopefully and patiently, so that if there is any¬ thing unusual about your talents it will turn to account, if you keep your patience and do not forsake that vocation just because the path leading to success is not strewn with roses. Only, if you are a loafer, forsake that line of life as soon as possible, for the longer you stick to it, the worse it will “stick” to you. The second step in reaching honorable success is patience, w hich is really the art of waiting. How’ many persons would have been successes instead of failures in their life-work, if they had only known how to w ait? Patience is a homely virtue alw ' ays timely and alw’ays indispensable. The great world is in pressing need of this quality and all those wTio possess it, have found or w ill find in the end, “Success Crow ns Patient Effort.” Mary Griffin, ’33. “SCUM O’ THE EARTH” “At the gate of the West I stand, On the isle where nations throng. We call them ‘scum o’ the earth!” Many of the foreigners who come into our country are ridiculed because of their dress or manner. We Americans do not remember that these people are human, that after all, they have ideals and dreams w’hich are rudely shattered w’hen they enter the most ugly part of our country and are treated as “scum o’ the earth.” Because a Spartan youth is poor and ragged should we forget that he comes from the land of Socrates and so many of the Grecian athletes? He is just as much a part of his country as the greatest hero whom we admire. But w r e always forget that fact, and treat this poor immigrant with scorn. Then there are the Polish people who come to find a new home only to be exiled because people do not realize that they come from the land of Chopin and Dvorak. These Polish people are different from the great musicians because they have not made a name for themselves. They are poor so they are called “scum o’ the earth.” We all admire Columbus because he w as so courageous. He left his land to discover a new one. We do not realize, how’ever, that the young Italian boy had to have courage to leave his home and come to a place of which he knew nothing and where he would be an absolute stranger. When we see a fruit peddler selling his wares on a street corner, we laugh. It all seems to be a joke. But a few moments thought w ill make us remember that perhaps this man was descended from one of the grelat Italian mu¬ sicians or sculptors. To us he is “scum o’ the earth.” Christ was a Jew. We forget this when w e see Hebrew’s whom w”e disrespect, attempt to cheat, and make fun of. Who are w r e to be ridiculing these people? After all, aren’t we foreigners, too?