Tonight, now that only a few more days of school remain, we graduates realize, with feelings of sadness and regret, that we have reached a turning point in life. Our Kamloops High School days will soon be over, ending by far the happiest period of our lives that we have yet spent. It seems only a short time ago that we began our high school careers, looking with trepidation at the four years of work ahead of us. However, the way was simpler than it at first seemed and with each passing year we gained new confidence in ourselves. Now, having reached our goal, we can look back and smile at our mistakes and the misgivings we had, especially those as the examinations approached.
During these four years, not only have we learned our prescribed courses, we also have learned more important things; such as tolerance, respect for the opinions of others and the acceptance of responsibilities. We have laid a foundation which is the essential part in the making of our lives. For many of these lessons, we must extend our thanks to our teachers, who have done more than their share in helping us. It was they to whom we came with our problems, who often sacrificed their time to help us and who took an interest in each of us and our individual futures.
In departing from school, we shall break many friendships. But the memory of them and many other fond recollections will, I am sure, remain with us throughout life. In the years to come, we shall often look back and wish that this part of our lives had not passed so quickly.
Till now, we have been able to progress and overcome our difficulties with the assistance· of our parents and teachers. But, in the future, we may no longer fall back on our elders, for the shaping of our lives has become our own responsibility.
The youth of today has a great heritage and a great challenge. We, who graduate this year must meet the challenge. Much depends on whether or not our generation is able to succeed in making peace in the world a practical ideal. We graduates have been given the best of training; now we must prove ourselves equal to the problems ahead of us.
