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The
Valedictory Address
The valedictory address
delivered by that exceptionally bright student, Athalene
Arduser, at the commencement exercises last week, has been so
highly spoken of by many that we reproduce it as follows:
Friends, Teachers and Classmates.
As a member of the class of 1923 I am here
to bid you farewell. It is a time that pleasure and sorrow
walk hand in hand, every joy has a tinge of sadness. This is
commencement - a great event in our lives, for it is the
beginning of a voyage into an unknown sea, the future.
The voyage of life takes us through many channels, through a
billowy sea, and we know not what is in wait for us beyond the
horizon. But it makes us happy to pause at the bend of the
river and consider the quiet and calm of the waters over which
we have rowed these four years. We cannot ????long, however,
for the greater ???? of life are calling us.
????wish to thank our dear teachers ????for the many
pleasant days ????we spent gliding smoothly over so clear and
calm a stream. Our lessons may have been hard to learn, our
future cares will be still more weighty, But more difficult
than anything we have yet undertaken is the task, of tonight,
of saying farewell to friends, teachers and classmates- of
leaving the familiar high school walls which have protectingly
sheltered us by their strength from the storms without and by
their silence from the storms within. Meeting and parting,
greeting and good bye, what is life but this? Yesterday we met
with words of greeting, today remorseless good bye steps in to
separate us.
While in school our teachers have helped
to pilot our ships, but now we shall be our own pilots realize
that had it not been for them we would not now be ready to
leave this harbor and embark on the greater voyage of real
life. But before the bell that tolls for 1923 has ceased it's
vibrations, let us remember those who aided us here.
Members of the school board and citizens
of Manchester, it is at your cost that we have been blessed
with this privilege. The price of what we trust has been of
great profit to us, to you has been very dear. We hope that
you will never regret that you have erected and maintained
this splendid high school, but that it may ever be looked upon
with pride.
To you teachers, we are very grateful. You have
made this, our last year??? time long to be remembered. Though
doubtless you have been perplexed by our unruly pranks, which
might cause even Job's patience to forsake him, still you have
perseveringly and patiently striven to help us up the ladder
of learning. We cannot pay the debt we owe you, we can only
acknowledge it., and as we say farewell to you we express the
wish that your days will be long and happy, crowned with the
richest gifts life can bestow.
We wish you undergraduates joy and
happiness in the future, for we feel that we owe you a great
deal for the many pleasant times we have enjoyed together. So
friends, teachers and classmates, in the name of the class of
1923 I give you sincere thanks.
Classmate there is one word more, and we did not
realize it would be so hard to say. We have paddled through
the harbor of the High school together, but must now row forth
alone into the deeper channels to come where ever they may
lead. In working together and in the sharing of our pleasures,
and disappointments we have become very dear friends, and it
seems hard to say good-bye. The boatswain calls " Ship Ahoy
"and the bells of the ship ring out as we begin our voyage.
Let us as we pilot our ship on the sea of life, forever keep
our colors, Red and White flying from the masthead. We have
adopted them as they are symbols of the principles we wish to
embody in our own lives. The red represents loyalty and
courage the white purity of thought, speech and act. On the
prow of our ship we have painted the red rose. We chose this
blossom for our class flower first because of it's richness
and beauty, and second because of it is the universal symbol
of love. The rose does not develop at once, but grows petal by
petal into all the beauty and fragrance for which it was
created. We shall therefore strive to grow slowly into the
rose of character.
My classmates, time does not retrograde at
our desire, the clock on our school days swings it's pendulum
slowly and more slowly still and will then cease. Although
there may be some of us who will yet be together as we go
through college, I feel that for most of us it is indeed a
parting word. But let us not say "farewell" but "au revoir".
Until we meet again.
For now our boat glides out between
The rocks that guard the shores,
Bearing the class of "23"
To high class no more
But looking forward with a smile
Of courage strong and high
To inset in that glad After while
No more to say good bye. |
