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

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Experience And Guidance: Foundations Of The Future Principal , Mr. Elias Shapiro Guidance Director, Mr. Laroy M. Brown. Board of Education, L. to R.: Mr. C. Glenn Flanders, Dr. John J. Kennedy, Mr. John F. Fitzpatrick, Dr. Peter F. Lingua, Mr. Edward W. Connell. CD CD CLO ru CL

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A Time for Action, A Time for Greatness Patricia Juneau Standing in the doorway that divides childhood from adulthood, we-the Class of 1965-ask only one thing of the future: time. We are about to graduate, to enter a new world of college or business or marriage; and with hope and ambition we ask only enough time to kW kjflHIl make our aspirations become reality. We are not afraid of the future, f° r if is ours to molc| . Eternity waits to be formed, and we are the artisans: our minds are the tools. The time that is marked by the pass- V ing of the seasons, the days, the minutes holds the promise of life J itself, for as Longfellow wrote in Hyperion , Time is the Life of the Soul. To live is to acknowledge the passing of time, but to allow time merely to pass is to leave unfulfilled our potential as human beings. We are able to distinguish ourselves from lower forms of life by our ability to decide and to act according to our decisions, to choose what is right and to rely on our choices. In order to utilize fully our capacities as human beings, we must not be passive and uninvolved, but be decisive and active in a constructive manner. As human beings we have no right to be beat, to disclaim complicity in the faults we see in society; if society is not worthy of our participation, we must make it so. Thomas Mann has said, A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries : we cannot separate ourselves from the society of which we are the basis. Whether we like it or not, if we are remembered by future generations, we will be remembered as part of our own generation; and the responsibility for the success or failure of our era will be laid on our shoulders. Therefore we should fear making disparaging remarks about society without including constructive criticism, should be distrustful of those who know everything and do nothing. The potential power of our generation makes passivity and es¬ capism crimes to society. The overzealous radical is of greater service, in most cases, than he who would be a sidewalk superintendent : at least the former believes that he has the interests of society at heart; the lat¬ ter does not even care what the interests of society are. To act in any direction is better than to vegetate. If we then decide to be active and contributing members of our generation, we have only to choose our course of action. We acknowledge our youth and inexperience, but we must also recognize the power and effectiveness of the enthusiasm that is characteristic of that youth, a capacity for involvement in abstractions that may soon be clouded by involvement with mundane problems. If we dare to act now and continue to act now as long as we have the strength, nothing is beyond our power. World peace, freedom, and happiness can all be achieved. These abstractions can be made reality, however, only if we realize that they depend upon individuals. Each person must understand and work for peace if it is to be world-wide, and each individual must enjoy freedom and contentment if these gifts are to be possessed by all mankind. World-wide achievements without a basis in individual betterment are as impossible as a balloon ' s being inflated without air. To the individual man, therefore, we must turn our graduation-bright hopes and intentions. The individual has long been merely one of a group, a group conquered or conquering, enslaved or freed, ignored or considered. But we, as the molders of the future, must attain and maintain a proper perspective in the chaotic world around us. Our first intentions and our first obligations are to better ourselves, so that we may be worthy instruments of progress: but coming close behind that obligation is our duty to our fellow man, a duty no amount of social cynicism can erase. Even from a selfish point of view, it is better to have one s neighbor content, for then he is less likely to be excited by subversive rabble-rousers and cause widespread damage. He cannot be blamed, moreover, for fighting against infringement on his inherent rights. We here enjoy those rights to the fullest, but we must be aware of those who do not. If we disagree with the means used by certain minority groups to free themselves from the shackles of prejudice, we must agree with their principles. And there is no time for us to waste, no time for us to be complacently uninvolved: principles have been chained out of the way of practicality for too long already. We, the Class of 1965, stand poised for action: therefore, let us act for principle, for freedom and justice, and not for expediency. The extent to which all men enjoy their unalienable rights will be the extent of our success as human beings capable of reshaping our society, and time will be the record of our greatness or failure. We must not fail. 4 00 CD 00 ru CL

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Carolyn DeThomas Science Carol Dezolt Business Education Kathleen Dowd Physical Education Thome John on Guidance Marilyn Kew Languages Anne Kript Languages Helene Leary Social Studies O —I Page