Page 27 - 1964 VES Meteor

-Mr. Aldred
My reaction to the first of the
tolumns entitled STUDENT SHORT- COMINGS was to wonder if the title lone did not betray the fact that .~u were already aware of any short- :omings of consequence that a '!laster might write about. Much life los been lived since the pilot article eopeared, and time has only served 1omake me more certain that my "tial reaction was not far wrong.
What then can be written about? 1.1uch has been said of late about etting down and of being let down. •occurred to me in the midst of it
oIthat you had too often responded to your responsibilities, too often 'ved up to or beyond what was ex- ~ected of you for anyone rightfully ·o feel let down by you. The law of large numbers appl ies in many areas of life. Should we not be satis- lied, I thought, as long as your right responses far outnumber the wrong ~nes?
Many of you have heard me say that in my opinion you are the finest group of boys this school has ever ~ad. H a v & y o u e v e r s t o p p e d t o wonder why I think you are? What qualities in you make you slightly superior to the other groups of fine ooys who have passed throuqh this school enroute to manhood? The re- marks that follow are based upon the assumption that you have not stop- ped to wonder.
First of all, you possess an amaz- ing capacity to become involved, to share yourselves with o t h e r p e o p l e and to allow others to share them- selves with you. A finely calibrated yardstick for measuring this quality e~ists in the faculty children. They adore you, and not without good reason. They pester you, hang on
.ou, use you for punching bags, make yOU responsible for their amusement, oftentimes for their safety. You fol- low their instructions without ques- tion, cut up their food and pour their milk for them, help mop up the messes they make, all the while lov-
I T H E M E T E O R '
ing them much and complaining little.
This capacity to become involved, to think beyond self, is a priceless one. Some of you have heard me speak of the remarkable captain upon whose ship I had the good fortune to sail during the Korean war. More thiln three thousand of us called it home for better than eight months. Most of what you have heard about sailors is likely to be true. In addition, there was a war going on. Some say adversity brings out the best in a man; still, living was cramped and ~he work hard and often dangerous. Time ashore was a t a premium. Yet, the brig on the ship never had a prisoner in eight months' time. In fact, during the last four or five months of the cruise, crates of dishes that had been bought in Japan
by the men were stored in the ship's brig. This record was no ~ccident. Rather, it was accomp- lished by the conscious effort of a group of men with a capacity to become involved, to achieve freedom from self, to get in tune with other
Have you ever given thought to
STUDENT SHORTCOMINGS
or disillusioned, you go right on liv- ing in a world filled with irritations without becoming really irritated, you are able to remain emotionally hearty in a world filled with situa- tions and people that frustrate. In short, you possess a zest for life- the French call it J OI E DE VIVRE literally joy in living. Never lose thi~ quality . Injustices and unhappinesses will be leveled by time. Do not allow yourself to become cynical in this age , when cynicism is reaching epidemic proportions.
people. You boys quality, too.
possess this
have been judged when the Jury comes in? Memorizing scraps of in- formation is not essential to the full life. Alfred North Whitehead said a merely well-informed man is t h e most useless bore on God's earth. Orderliness and neatness are desir- able characteristics, but not essential ones. It has been said that Lincoln's desk was so cluttered and dirty that it was a mystery vegetables did not sprout up and flourish there. Know yourself- your strengths that you may use them, your weaknesses that they not trip you up. Above all, hold fast to your freshness, to your whole- sometimes, to your JOIE DE VIVRE, to your idealism- that is the full stature of manhood.
Ideals are what make the world go round. Ideals motivate people. This school was the result of an ideal. The founder sought to build a school dedicated to the task of develop- ing in boys the full stature of man- hood. The school rises and falls as generations of boys strive for or set aside the founder's ideal. Not long ago the words disappeared from the official stationery of the school. They
have now all but disappeared from our vocabularies.
cling t o ideal. It will not always provide you with the answer you seek, but it will put you in a frame of mind wherein
you can find the answer. Pass it along to the next generation of boys as you would a baton. Older boys, younger old boys, young boys, future generations of boys-all contribute to the making or the breaking of this school. Care enough to give your very best to it and the brig will al- ways be filled with dishes.
-F. K. Aldred.
-~ 7
You have all heard the old saying about people bcinq the same any- where you go. I disagree. I often look around the dining room and never fail to be awed by the sight of so much honesty and integrity and trustworthiness and goodness
gathered assembled under one roof. So ma ny of God's children seem somehow to have been denied these qualities. They haven't really, but so many have been denied that cir- cumstance which would have allowed these qualities to emerge.
I am amazed also by your capacity to remain boys in this jet-space-nu- clear age. That you are able to re- main of sound mind in a world filled to overflowing with and to a large extent regulated by standardized tests is in itself a remarkable achieve-
ment. You do not become impatient
Forsaking all e lse,
t his
l the real bases upon which you will