Page 30 - 1926 Gleaner

THE GLEANER
years. We, the class of 1925 are about to say "farewell" to· our school and its staff. "Farewell" is a word compounded of sorrow and joy, fulfillment and expectation. It seems a hard word to say since implied in it is an ending of things. But, we should_ not think this; it is not the ending, but, more truly, a splendid beginning of greater things for which we have been preparing. We are on the threshold of a wider life for which our sincere friends, the members of the C. C. I. staff, have been preparing us. It is not the closing, but rather the opening of a door. In truth we cannot bid C. C. I. farewell. Our high school days will never leave us for we today are the result of our five years of yesterdays at C. C. I. Thus now and always are we part of the Collingwood Collegiate Institute and the Collingwood Collegiate Institute a part of us. We cannot escape from each other nor do we so desire.
What is our Collegiate Institute? It is not the old school on Hume St. whose death by fire on December 21st, 1923, caused us much grief although we cherish its memories. It is not the improvised school in which we have been, till now, completing our studies-at somewhat of a disadvantage-although it is also in a way, dear to us. It is not the new school which is erected on the site of the old and well renowned structure although the new building will also be a great and well renowned school. As I say, it is not the new school because even it cannot be built to withstand the onslaught of time and sometime will be worn away. Nor is it our school staff, dear as they are to us, because the personnel of the staff is bound to change sometime. It is not the students, dear as our associations with them have been, be- cause even after graduation we still consider that we belong to C. C. I. So we see that our collegiate is none of these and yet all of these. It is the mind and influence produced by all these-The tradi,tions which cling to the collegiate, the ideals of the teach- ers, the friendships of the students, and it is the union of all these that gives us comfort when we say farewell.
Now we, the graduates, realize that we must play the game tomorrow as we tried to play it yesterday. We are entering the broader sphere of life for which we have been preparing for the last four or five years. When we attempt to estimate the sub- stance of those years we find in our memories a medley of things gay and grave, classes, books, laughter, friendships sorrows' dreams, realities. Mingled with the principles and thedries which we have retained there also looms up a remembrance of trivial things-the boy in the second form falling through the ceiling of the old school with a pigeon in one hand and two used-to-be eggs in the other; also the game of baseball in the fourth form during the teacher's absence from the room. But that is not all. Aside from the acquiring of actual knowledge we have learned to persevere. To overcome difficulties, to approach the giant of fear who blocks our way and cry, "\Vho cares for you?" We have
Page Twenty-six