Page 59 - 1952 VES Meteor

Volume XXXVI
The
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA, JUNE 9, 1952
THE SCHOOL
THE HEADMASTER'S STUDY
No. 8
"Of shoes and ships and sealing wax And cabbages and kings."
When one sits down to write for the last Meteor of the ~ession, so many likely topics come into mind that one re- calls involuntarily ;he lines which I have quoted above. Out of these many likely topics, however, there is one which is always very close to my heart at this time of the year, for .1 am thinking constantly of those boys who will in a few days complete their courses here and will then go on to college and university. We of the faculty will miss them, of course, as we have missed the boys of each suc- ceeding class as they have left these halls but at the moment comes a thought and a hope deeper than just missing those who have been with us.
That thought and that hope concern the future of the Class of 1952. The thoughts of its members are perhaps at the present moment centered upon that greater free- dom of the college campus to which they have looked forward so longingly. No longer will the clanging of a big bell arouse them from their slumber at seven o'clock; no mo re imposition s; no more re po rts; no mo re demerits,
THE METEOR
for ' N0 Imp."; no more wangling permission to go to town in the afternoon; no more figuring months ahead for a coveted weekend; no more slipping out of a dormitory at night with the rhreat of "Fifteen and Bounds" hanging over -~heir heads. No, just freedom, that's all.
And yet how frequently freedom degenerates into license! And the boy, now a young man, who goes on to college with such freedom as his chief object and desire goes with but meager equipment. We at V. E. S. like to hope and believe,-nay, we do believe that our boys go forth with a finer spirit than that. We know, of course, that the release from detailed restrictions and regula- tions is going to be delightful to them but we also know from the records of classes past that this is a superficial happiness and that underneath it in our boys lies a stamina which enables them to enjoy their freedom without letting it rule their lives. And so, as the Class of 1952 goes forth to fields of wider and higher endeavor, there go with them our high hopes and good wishes that its members will attain true success in their several fields and experience to the full the happiness which accompanies such success.
-Geo. L. Barton, Jr.
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