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

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30 THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD We despise them, we trample upon them, we hold them back, these immigrants who have come to our country because they w T ish to be a part of it. We do not allow them to join our activities. It is only in time of war or necessity that we call upon them. And then, are they given credit for what they have done? In most cases the answer is “No.” We say it was merely their duty to protect a people who do not recognize them as brothers. Can we Americans, living in a free country, reasonably say that this is fair? If we do, we have a warped sense of fairness. So why not, in the future, try to treat our foreign people as a part of us and not make them feel that they are not wanted here? “Newcomers all from the Eastern seas, Help us incarnate dreams like these. Forget, and forgive, that we did you wrong. Help us to father a nation, strong In the comradeship of an equal birth, In the wealth of the richest bloods of earth.” Mary Gandolfi, ’33. THE IMPORTANCE OF ATHLETICS. Various forms of athletics throughout the Universe have from the beginning of time, played a major part in developing the body, as well as the mind. The wholesale exercise which is derived from athletics has equipped men and women with increased vitality and a keener mentality. Sports are not new to the world. If we go back through history we shall find that, the Greeks, as well as the Romans, held games of sport during which time a legal holiday was proclaimed to insure the privilege of everyone’s participating or looking on during the games. The word “athletics” to the average person means: baseball, basketball, football, tennis, golf, hockey, and swimming. The question is sometimes asked, “Of what importanceare athletics? Does one derive a benefit from them ?” The first thing most people say is, they are of no importance because they tire a person mentally and physi¬ cally. This is not whoMy so. It is true, however, that over indulgence in athletics will tire and fatigue a person, but no more so, than overeating will make a person sick. On the other hand athletics teaches us sportsmanship, that quality which is a valuable asset to each and everyone of us. They teach us to treat our neighbor fairly and to give him an equal chance in every contest no matter what the prize may be. When we engage in athletic exercise in school we are doing so for the glory and success of a team or a squad, not for self-praise. We soon realize that we must give help to the other fellow while training ourselves to meet the trials and ordeals which everyone at some time in his life, confronts. Athletics should create a friendly attitude in us because we learn to take victory as well as defeat, with a smile and a persevering spirit

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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?

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THE HTGH SCHOOL HERALD 31 which hopes for better luck next time. We obtain friendships from sports which encourage us and often set us on the path which leads to success. The interest we take in athletics makes us valuable citizens to a community because we realize what they can do for everybody in the com¬ munity. We see their importance and w r e encourage both the young and the old to take active part in them thereby increasing their exercise which really becomes more of a pleasure than a duty. Then, too, the knowledge which we have gained from athletics makes us willing to lend a hand wherever it is needed, for the good of all our friends and associates. In conclusion, the fact that convinces us most of all is that if ath¬ letics were not important and a benefit to usthe world’s greatest countries would not favorably look upon the (Treat sports’ program which is he’d every four years. This program is known as the Olympic games, those games which bring with them, not only glory but even joy and delight to people all over the world. Mary Dowd, ’33. VALEDICTORY. WORK. A man’s privilege to work, to support himself and his dependents by honest labor, has been the greatest gift that America has ever offered her citizens. From its earliest beginnings, our country, instead of wor¬ shiping ancient titles or inherited wealth, has been most eager to praise those who by steady, unceasing effort have raised themselves from the common level and have joined the ranks of our nation’s truly great. If you doubt this, consider two of our greatest Americans, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, whose lives and deeds are honored more as every year passes. These men were not even fairly well equipped as to family, education, or money for the high places which they won, but since they gained them through sheer persistence and toil, we are proud to point to them as examples of our finest types of manhood. Thus, through succeeding generations, and through every medium of expression, the peculiarly American tradition of relentless, driving energy applied to every kind of work to gain material results, has been established. For a long time now, success, too often, has been measured by the amount of money or prestige a man could gain from his work. It is useless to argue the right or wrong of th ; s viewpoint, since it has been inbred in Americans so long that it is a national trait, and cannot be changed merely by declaring it wrong. Nevertheless, we must admit that most of us thoroughly enjoy all the competition, the eternal “keeping up with the Jones,” the striving for something better which modern living demands of us, and we would be terribly bored without it. And that brings us to the man who within the last few years, through no fault of his own, but because of the “depression” has been unable to find any job at all. or at best, only part time employment. What